Nearly half of your employees plan to quit – here's how to stop them

The number of resignations across the world have no signs of stopping soon, a new study has revealed, a reflection of the growing impact The Great Resignation has brought to the workforce. The 2022 Office Worker Survey, commissioned by UiPath, revealed that 48% of office workers across the globe consider resigning from their jobs in the next six months.

This number comes as more employees feel increased pressure at work due to their colleagues departing, according to the report, with 83% of the respondents admitting that they began taking up six new tasks outside their job descriptions because of their co-workers resigning.

As a result, 68% of the respondents said they do not know what their responsibilities are.

The effect of this uncertainty and increased pressure is adding to the growing exhaustion of employees. This makes them feel frustrated even by mundane tasks at work, which include:

1. Responding to emails (42%)
2. Scheduling calls and meetings (35%)
3. Inputting data/creating datasets (34%)

"Globally, people are motivated to seek a new position because of increased pressure on work/life balance, spending too much time on administrative tasks, and lack of training to develop or enhance new and existing skills," read the report.

What can employers do to help?

Amid growing frustration on mundane tasks, it might be time for employers to look for ways to free employees from mundane tasks that are wearing them down.

The study has shown that 57% employees believe most of their day is taken up by tasks that can be automated, with a massive 91% believing that automation can improve their job performance.

They said that with automation, they would be able to enjoy the following benefits:

1. Save time (52%)
2. Increase productivity (46%)
3. Create opportunities to focus on more important work (45%)

Read more: Great Resignation: More than half of employees who quit feel undervalued

Bettina Koblick, chief people officer at UiPath, stressed that businesses will continue facing productivity and competitive pressures if employees do not have a "shift to more meaningful work."

"Technologies like automation can free workers’ time, enable a better work-life balance, and create vastly improved efficiencies that allow business to be agile and responsive to customers," said Koblick.

In addition to these, employers would also benefit from introducing automation in the workplace.

About 73% of the respondents said that introducing automation, as well as training on it, could help organisations attract new and retain existing talent.

"The world of work has changed and retaining and attracting workers with the aid of emerging technology is a business imperative," stated Koblick.