Research reveals impact of robots in meaning amid widespread global adoption
Robots can decrease work meaningfulness, according to a new report that comes in the wake of widespread adoption of robots across the world.
Research from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands looked at the impact of robots on meaningfulness and autonomy in European workplaces adopting an automated workforce.
"We find a consistent negative impact of robotisation on perceived work meaningfulness and autonomy," the research released last year read. "Using instrumental variables, we find that doubling robotisation leads to a 0.9% decrease in work meaningfulness and a one per cent decline in autonomy."
If the food and beverages industry were to match the level of robot adoption seen in the automotive industry, the researchers estimate that the decline in meaningfulness of work can reach 6.8%.
For autonomy, they estimate that the drop would reach 7.5%.
Milena Nikolova, the lead author of the paper and a professor of the economics of well-being at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, previously told Tech Target that the adoption of robots can lead to fewer interactions with colleagues and less problem-solving and learning.
"It is therefore unsurprising that robotisation also makes the jobs of European workers less meaningful," Nikolova told the outlet.
The report comes after findings from the International Federation of Robotics showed that global robot density doubled in seven years.
The global average robot density hit 163 units per 10,000 employees in 2023, more than twice the 74 units recorded seven years prior.
In the European Union, robot density reached 219 units per 10,000 employees, up 5.2%. Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Slovenia were in the global top 10.
Nikolova's research said the adoption of future technologies, such as artificial intelligence, suggests that many people's jobs will change in the future.
"[This] has implications for job quality and perceived well-being at work," the research said.
But it noted that if technology adoption is done in a "democratic and deliberative way," then consequences for future job quality would not be bleak or deterministic.
"Firms, supported by representative institutions, such as works councils, trade unions, and work committees, can help deliberate strategies for modifying and creating job designs and tasks for workers," the research said.
"Such job designs can ensure that humans and machines cooperate rather than compete for tasks and that the machines help improve workers' well-being."
