As the leader of Kelly’s innovation and product development team, I spend a lot of time talking about the future of work and the technology that is likely to shape it. Sometimes the response to advancements in fields like automation and AI can be hostile – people imagine a dystopian future where humans are relegated to the sidelines and a new robot workforce has taken center stage. The truth is that the best technology, the most useful and most likely to be adopted technology, is that which supports and empowers human achievement, not suppresses it.
This is the ethos at the core of Kelly Fusion – a suite of people-first automated solutions that reduces time and labor-intensive tasks, freeing up talent to focus on fulfilling work that matters. Among these solutions are digital workers – team members powered by custom-built robotic process automation to carry out repetitive, repeatable tasks in a huge range of environments. These digital workers are uniquely designed to partner with people and enhance their capabilities, giving their human colleagues the time and space to add greater value and enjoy more meaningful work.
The time is now for businesses to implement or double down on automation. The technology is at an inflection point and will impact the world of work significantly in coming years. Meanwhile, employers are still facing a talent shortage and struggle to attract and retain workers who crave more fulfilling experiences at work. Our research shows that in this environment businesses lack workforce agility and the capability to deploy talent effectively and seize new opportunities.
Digital workers ultimately give organizations access to a wider pool of talent. Previously, when clients came to us with a hiring challenge, we could say, “You can hire a full-time worker, a temporary worker, or a contract worker”; now we can add a brand-new fourth labor channel to that mix that is automation based. The possibilities are limitless. We know it’s a model that works because we’ve already deployed digital workers alongside human talent across our global business.
Our in-house automation team has been developing, testing, and honing digital workers for several years – solving internal challenges and monitoring the impact of this new labor channel across Kelly. The results have been overwhelmingly positive; 162 unique automations have delivered $13.5M in lifetime cost savings while saving our people 650,000 hours! That’s time that would have been spent filling forms, moving data, or doing dull, repetitive work instead now being devoted to creative, strategic, or relationship-focused tasks. It’s actively adding value to our organization in a way that enhances employee experiences across the board.
We’re now deploying digital workers with our clients and we have some incredibly exciting Kelly Fusion projects in the pipeline. This is a brand-new era of collaboration between digital and human workers, and I can’t wait to see where it takes us and all of you.
Ed PedersonVice President of Innovation & Product Development, Kelly
