Why businesses will need to make change the new normal
Summary
“Those who don’t make changes will lose out.” Across all sectors, organisations will need to assess how they operate under social distancing measures, given that a Covid-19 vaccine is potentially years away. Pod Group asked 500 business leaders from across the UK for their opinion on automation in industry in the light of the pandemic. Business leaders in healthcare (64%), finance (72%), retail, catering and leisure (74%), and manufacturing (75%) all considered the introduction of such technology as having a positive effect on their employees. Cost savings (34%) were cited by the majority of business leaders as the principal driving force for automation, followed by less dependence on human labour (13%) and improved quality of work (13%). Pod Group’s survey found that the emphasis on cost savings was most pronounced in the retail sector, with just over half (51%) of decision-makers considering it the impetus for automation, while the same view was shared by 44% of finance companies.