70% Indian workers feel burnt out as more colleagues quit in past year: Study

BENGALURU: Seven in 10 office workers in India are under increased pressure at work due to more and more colleagues resigning in the past year, the highest in any region, a new report showed on Wednesday.

Monotonous tasks are amplifying employee unhappiness and uncertainty and they would welcome new processes and technologies such as automation to allow them to focus on work that matters, according to the report by UiPath, an enterprise automation software company.

“In India, 79 per cent of respondents said they have had to take up to six new tasks or responsibilities outside of their job description due to co-workers resigning,” said Anil Bhasin, Managing Director and Vice President, UiPath-India, and South Asia.

“Ninety-nine per cent feel automating certain tasks can improve their job performance by saving time, increasing productivity, and creating opportunities to focus on more important work,” he added.

More employees around the world are burnt out by having to take on more work due to colleagues resigning and various monotonous tasks.

Alarmingly, 74 per cent of Indian and 68 per cent of global respondents reported that they do not know what their responsibilities are anymore, because things at work have changed so much since their coworkers quit.

While 73 per cent of Indian respondents say they are interested or could be swayed into looking for a new job in the next six months, about two in five say they are currently applying for another job, or have had interviews with another company in the past six months.

Local office workers are motivated to seek a new position due to increased pressure on work/life balance, spending too much time on administrative tasks and a lack of employee recognition.

Nearly 96 per cent of Indian respondents say they feel exhausted at the end of a workday at least one day per week.

They are frustrated by tasks like research to improve existing products and services, drafting and responding to emails, creating new products and services and scheduling calls and meetings, the report found.

Employees feel like much of their workday is eaten up by tasks that can be automated.

About 91 per cent of Indian respondents contend that incorporating automation, including training on automation, could help their organisation attract new and retain existing talent.

Nearly 86 per cent of respondents in India said their organisations offer employees access to AI or automated tools, highest in any region.