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New Poll Finds CEOs Tapping Automation To Solve Labor Crunch

Faced with still-soaring labor costs and shortages of key employees across nearly every industry, U.S. business leaders are increasingly turning to technology for answers, fueling a push for automation solutions unlike any in recent memory. That trend will only accelerate in the year to come.  

That’s the big takeaway from Chief Executive’s latest polling. Among the 182 CEOs we surveyed November 7-9, as part of our monthly CEO Confidence Index, the number one strategy being pursued to offset rising labor costs in 2024 was automation and technology investment, with 59 percent saying it was their first choice. That topped all other strategies including price increases, finding new revenue streams and reskilling existing workers.  

That won’t automatically translate into a reduction in workers, however. Among those surveyed, 88 percent said they expected to displace less than 5 percent of their workforce with automation in the year to come, and a full 40 percent said they did not expect technology to displace any workers at their firms, at least not in the next 12 months. No one responding to the survey expected to displace 15 percent or more of their workforce with technology.  

• Within this, though, there are significant differences based on company size, with executives at bigger companies having much larger appetites for adapting technology solutions versus executives at smaller firms.
  
  
• Some 62 percent of executives at companies under $10 million in annual revenues said none of their employees would get displaced by automation, for example, compared to only 9 percent at large companies ($1 billion+ in annual revenues). 
  
  
• If that pattern holds, it could broaden the already-wide productivity gaps between larger and smaller organizations, with large companies potentially using automation to slow workforce growth—and the highly inflationary costs associated with bringing people aboard—to a greater extent than smaller rivals.
  
  
• New advances in technology promise to make the existing workforce more productive at every level of the company–not just at the bottom rungs—so the greater the automation effort, the greater the overall advantage, at least in theory.  

“In the past, we looked at automation in different types of roles, typically at the bottom pyramid, the bottom layer of menial task,” says George Casey, advanced analytics practice leader at consultancy RSM. “What we’re seeing [now] is that throughout the organization, the top-level jobs, our traditional ‘white collar’ jobs, are potentially more at risk because they have a greater return.” Read the full report >

— Isabella Mourgelas, lead research analyst, Chief Executive Group. editorial@ChiefExecutiveGroup.com

Do you possess the right strategies, insights and mindset to not just navigate but lead your company to unprecedented growth no matter the market conditions? Join an astounding congregation of experts at Chief Executive’s next online masterclass – featuring Fred Reichheld, David Moffett, and Ram Charan – on December 7 at 2pm ET and prepare for 2024, today.

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Women in Leadership Series: Female Leaders Empowering Female Voices

• December 14 | 11:00 am - 1:30 pm ET
  Embracing Change & The Power of EQ | Gail McGovern, President and CEO, American Red Cross; Board Member, DTE Energy and PayPal and Sally Hegelsen, Author, Rising Together and How Women Rise

• AI 360 Academy: Generative AI Bootcamp for Functional Business Leaders
  
  
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• The CEO100 Network
  
  
• Manufacturing CEO Network
  
  
• Wholesale / Distribution CEO Network
  
  
• Software / Technology CEO Network
  
  
• Architecture CEO Network

• Engineering CEO Network
  
  
• General Contractor CEO Network
  
  
• Sub-Contractor CEO Network
  
  
• Cross-Industry CEO Network

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