How embracing the augmented workforce can power the nature of work?

The development and advancements of technology are rapidly changing the nature of work and the workforce. The relentless growing connectivity and cognitive technologies are making it possible where humans and machines can work side-by-side at a shared workplace, enhancing the abilities of the human workforce. Today, as the workplaces are evolving to a flexible workforce driven by technology advances, software, automation, IoT, robotics, and artificial intelligence, among others, almost every job in every discipline is being revived.

With the introduction of new technology, companies now have opportunities to power the workplace and augment their workforce to perform tasks effortlessly. The increasing proliferation of intelligent automation into the workplace is taking away a lot of tedious, repetitive works that used to overwhelm workflow, freeing up employees to focus on more valuable tasks. This gives the birth of the augmented workforce that involves a blend of human workers and technology.

Unlike traditional manual jobs, the augmented workforce has the ability to drive great efficiency. According to a recent report from Deloitte, cognitive technologies and open talent economy are paradigm-shifting forces that will reshape the workforce in the near future. Already, a majority of companies have implemented these shifting forces, as the report found, 41 percent of companies have fully deployed or have made significant progress in adopting cognitive and AI technologies within their workforce.

Attaining Greater Value from Augmented Workforce

By integrating human capability with AI, companies will be able to enhance productivity, while increasing safety and minimizing equipment downtime. The transition to a workforce empowered by technology and talent from the labor force equipped with traditional systems is one of the effective approaches for businesses, but this poses some challenges to human capital trends.

An augmented workforce generally defines a working environment wherein human employees work alongside machines or intelligent virtual assistants to drive better outcomes. For instance, the use of advanced warehouse technologies at Amazon shows how robotics, cognitive computing and flexible human workforce strategies can implement to drive efficiency and deliver improved productivity while multiplying new hires. During the holiday season, in order to meet increased demand, the e-commerce giant expands its workforce by around 40 percent with nearly 120,000 temporary hires.

These workers can be trained quickly thank to the use of robotic and cognitive technologies. By using tools like automated training screens, smart tape dispensers, and robotic pallets, the time taken for training new-hires at the company has been lessened from six weeks to as little as two days.

Many businesses use AI for marketing automation, support and service purposes by capitalizing on chatbots. These AI-powered solutions are able to respond to queries quickly based on keywords that users type into the conversation, as well as deliver enhanced customer service compared to a human employee managing multiple conversations manually. Thus, these sorts of workforce innovations will not only provide flexibility to employees, but also generate jobs at large.