Australian and New Zealand health workforce ahead of curve in accepting advanced technology

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A recent employee survey conducted by global technology leader Genesys revealed a significantly higher acceptance of advanced training technology by Australian and New Zealand employees, compared to those surveyed in other regions.

The health sector was one of the industries represented in this survey. Some key insights are:

• 69% of respondents from the health sector believe technology in the workplace makes them more efficient
• 58% of healthcare respondents are willing to use augmented reality and virtual reality for job training
• 35% of respondents from the healthcare industry say AI has already had a positive impact
• 58% of respondents from the health profession are willing to use a virtual assistant to help manage tasks and deadlines
• 96% of healthcare respondents believe employers are responsible for providing training
• 42% of respondents from the health industry sometimes feel threatened by new technology in the workplace
• 77% of respondents from the health profession believe companies should have a written ethical policy regarding AI/bots.

Nearly 75% of ANZ respondents stated one of the main reasons for embracing technology in the workplace was for greater efficiency. Further, 45% of Australians and 49% of New Zealanders appreciated specific tools such as AI and bots, because they believe they enable them to focus on other things.

In line with global trends, the ANZ workforce is interested in working with AI, and 33% believe AI will have a positive impact on their jobs in the next five years. Further, 24% reported they are already seeing a positive impact from this intelligent technology, and 54% of ANZ respondents believe they already possess the skills to work in an AI-enabled workplace.

Although there was an overall positive sentiment towards technology in the region, new and advanced tools are not without their implementation challenges.

Governance, and where the responsibility to manage new technology should lie, remains a concern, with 58% of respondents believing their company should have an ethical policy on the use of AI and bots in the workplace. Further, 62% of ANZ employees also feel companies should be required to maintain a certain number of human employees, and 90% feel their employers should invest in training to help them upskill and make the most of advanced technology.

Genesys Australia and New Zealand vice president of sales and managing director Gwilym Funnell said these results did not surprise him.

“We are seeing an increase in ANZ companies looking for innovative ways to implement technology to improve their current processes. The demand for providing fast, efficient and reliable service is growing, and the way to meet this demand is to seamlessly blend AI technologies with human support.

“As our region is smaller and more agile than many other markets, we find the vast majority of businesses and employees are open to change, and it’s wonderful to see the results of our truly progressive workforce,” said Funnell.

Additional survey highlights include that:

• 25% of ANZ respondents have never felt threatened by technology
• 32% of people aged 18-38 years believe AI has had a positive impact on their job
• Just 10% of ANZ respondents expressed a dislike of new technology tools being introduced into the workplace
• Staff in smaller organisations sometimes feel more threatened by new technology than staff in larger organisations by 8%
• 69% of employees believe their employer understands how they use technology at work.

Participants were 4,207 employees from five regions including the US, UK, Japan and Germany, who completed the online survey in April 2019. The ANZ region represented 19% of respondents, who were evenly divided into three age ranges (18–38, 39–54, 55–73) with women accounting for 51% and men 49%.

Genesys, the global leader in omnichannel customer experience and contact centre solutions, commissioned this survey to better understand current global attitudes towards artificial intelligence in the workplace and what this means for the future of AI.

Source: Genesys media release, 31 July 2019

Sector updates are provided by organisations to eHealthNews.nz and have not necessarily been edited or checked for accuracy. Any queries should be directed to the organisation issuing the release. 

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