Most managers feel robots do higher quality work than humans

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - A majority of U.S. managers say that robots perform "higher quality work" than humans, according to a new study released Wednesday.

The MindEdge/Sky Learning study also showed that technology workers also expect to see increased job losses.

58 percent of the 1,000 managers who were surveyed picked robots over humans and 49 percent expect that automation with lead to more job losses in the next five years.  And nearly 70 percent of the managers who have replaced workers with robots say they would do it again, even if it didn't save the company any money.

41 percent of American businesses have adopted robotics or advanced automation in the last five years.  But in the tech sector that number soars to 74 percent.

And automation has led to job losses for workers, especially in the technology sector; roughly one in four technology managers at firms that have adopted robotics or AI report that "many workers" at their companies have lost jobs due to the new technology.

But 26 percent of technology managers say that robotics and automation have created jobs within their organization. 

"It's clear that our workforce is in flux, as more than half of today's managers see their jobs as being immune to robotic advancement, yet they also report both hard and soft skills lacking at their company," said Sandra Slager, chief operating officer of MindEdge Learning.

As U.S. managers increasingly see the value in robots and their ability to produce high quality work, workers' concerns about their own job security have not yet reached a critical level.

But the survey also provides some encouraging news for workers.   Managers identified an array of "soft skills" – including creativity, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking – that  differentiate humans from robots.

Only a third of managers say their employees are "very" or "fairly" concerned about being displaced by technology in the next year, and just 38 percent say their workers are worried about losing their jobs in the next five years.