13 Workplace Technology Statistics 

As humans and advanced workplace technology increasingly work together, small and medium-sized businesses are rapidly growing, especially in industries dominated by enterprises.

On top of that, workplace tech allows for increased security and cost savings, and leads to higher employee productivity, performance, and satisfaction.

For many employees, having the latest workplace technology and automation has become a necessity. It helps automate redundant manual tasks, making their work more engaging. 

To give you an idea of the state of workplace tech and automation in 2023, we collected 13 important workplace technology statistics you need to know. First, here’s an infographic that shows how humans and technology are increasingly working together.

1. The global digital workplace market size grew from $27.33 billion to $33.12 billion in 2022 (Source)

As workers increasingly embrace automation and other technology that facilitates a digital workplace, the market is growing at a CAGR of 22.3%. Research projects the global digital workplace market size will reach $166.27 billion in 2030.

The US alone accounted for $5.3 billion of the global digital workplace market in 2021. However, the US market is growing at a CAGR of 21.5% from 2022 to 2030, lower than the global average of 22.3%.

The recent uptick in the introduction of AI and various other automation technologies in organizations is helping automate manual processes, improving the productivity of employees while streamlining organizational processes.

As more companies aim for this exponential improvement in efficiency, projections forecast the market will grow steadily in the next decade.

Within the digital workplace market, the solution segment accounted for 67.6% of the market share. The services segment comprised the rest.

Furthermore, large enterprises and multinational companies accounted for 61.5% of the market. Various large-scale companies have embraced cloud technology and AI automation to minimize disparities and meet the demands of multi-location businesses.

A large part of this is cognitive automation, where companies combine artificial intelligence with process automation capabilities for improved business outcomes.

Lastly, the market was dominated by IT and telecommunications, as well as the banking, financial services, and insurance segments. Other major segments were manufacturing, retail and consumer goods, and healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

2. The chatbot market size is worth $1 billion and will reach $4.9 billion by 2032 (Source)

Companies are embracing chatbots due to their ability to automate repetitive conversations with customers in real time.

Chatbots make it possible for customers to receive answers to simple questions, confirm orders, track shipping, and give feedback without taking up a worker’s time answering calls and emails, and without having to wait on hold or for a return email. An immediate response can improve the customer experience.

Likewise, chatbots can assign complex requests to the right individual or team, rather than the customer having to call around to different departments and interrupt employees’ workflow.

As of 2022, North America had the highest market share of 41% in the chatbot market. However, with a CAGR of 19.29% across the globe, analysts expect the chatbot market to increase rapidly in other parts of the world as well.

When it comes to the organization type, large-scale enterprises account for 51% of the chatbot market share.

As for applications, the bot-for-service segment accounted for 36% of the market share in 2022. According to the chatbot type, the standalone type had the largest market share at 55.7%. As for product type, the marketing segment had the largest market share at 56%. Lastly, the e-commerce industry had the highest usage of chatbots, accounting for 21% of the market. 

Other than that, the chatbot use in the healthcare industry is expected to grow at the highest rate during the study’s forecast period. A healthcare chatbot offers various privacy features that protect a patient’s identity and personal information.

It can also make diagnosing patients with mental health disorders much easier, faster, and more efficient.

3. As companies invest in the latest workplace technology, global spending on digital transformation is projected to reach $2.16 trillion in 2023 (Source)

This is an increase from $.96 trillion in 2017, and projections forecast $3.4 trillion in total expenditure in 2026.

Keep in mind that digital transformation refers to any adoption of digital technology in business processes or services that previously were non-digital or analog.

Some examples of this may be uploading data to the cloud, using online tools for communication and collaboration, and even workplace automation of manual processes. 

While digital transformation of business is not new, this rate of progression is higher than ever. As companies were forced to utilize digital communication tools due to the spread of COVID-19, a lot of organizations changed their policies and have maintained digital advancements that were necessary during the pandemic.

As the level of growth continues to increase, newer technologies like ChatGPT4 are paving the way for further digital transformation and automation. It’s likely that someday the majority of companies will be completely digital.

4. 62% of ‘more engaged’ employees feel motivated by having the right workplace technology (Source)

Meanwhile, only 36% of ‘less engaged’ employees consider access to technology a strong motivator.

Engaging employees can take a lot of effort. But once you have engaged employees, providing them with what they need can not only help maintain their engagement levels but also engage them further.

This study found that if engaged employees have access to the right workplace technology, 62% of them would feel even more engaged.

Meanwhile, 44% of engaged employees believe there would be no change while 36% say the availability of workplace tech may reduce their overall engagement.

Furthermore, 70% of the employees surveyed say it’s very important to have online portals to access data. Access to web-based collaboration tools was the second-most popular response at 68%, and 67% of employees believe video conferencing technology is very important.

5. 71% of employers have deployed web-based video collaboration tools while 20% plan to do so (Source)

Meanwhile, 8% of employers still don’t have any plans to utilize web-based video collaboration tools and 1% were unfamiliar with any such tools. 

Investment in workplace technology is key for increased productivity and collaboration. However, employers need to invest in technology that their employees want and can use for maximum return.

The study also found that:

• 68% of employers have deployed online portals for easier data access but 21% are still in the planning stages.
• 56% of employers have deployed video conferencing tech, 26% haven’t yet but plan to, and 15% have no plans to do so. Of surveyed employers, 2% are unfamiliar with video conferencing technology.
• Despite the need for the technology, only 49% of employers currently have online project management tools while 37% plan to deploy them. 
• 45% of employers use survey and polling tools, 32% have plans to implement them, and 20% have no plans to use such tools.
• Of surveyed employers, 39% use virtual whiteboards while 38% don’t but plan to use them.
• Only 37% of employers have automated tools for mundane and repetitive tasks. However, 40% have plans to deploy automation tools.
• 32% of employers have distributed wearable devices among employees while 30% plan to do so. Meanwhile, 32% of employers have no plans to and 5% are unfamiliar with wearable devices.
• 30% of companies have adopted virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), or metaverse-related tools. An additional 33% plan to do so, 32% have no current plans to implement the technology, and 5% of employers are unfamiliar with it.
• 30% of employers utilize smart assistants to help employees work more efficiently while 37% plan to do so.

While most workplace tech is getting adequate attention, employers are severely lacking in providing smart assistants to employees. Of employers surveyed, 60% consider smart assistants to be very important while 35% consider them somewhat important, making them a priority that employers are still catching up to.

6. 44% of employees said increased investment in automation by their company will motivate them to stay (Source)

In addition, 71% of surveyed business leaders worldwide understand that lack of necessary tools, technology, and information has a direct negative impact on employee retention. The percentage rises to 82% in the US. This not only includes AI-based technology, but also common digital tools and information needed to do their jobs properly.

Meanwhile, the survey found investment in automation has a significant impact on employees choosing to stay with the company or search for work elsewhere. At 62%, employees in the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region were most likely to be motivated to stay at their current employer if it increased automation investment.

This was followed by the MEA (Middle East) region, where automation investment would encourage 56% of employees to stay in their roles. The same was true for 50% of employees in the LATAM (Latin America) region and 48% in the United States.

At 42%, Europeans were least likely to be motivated to stay at their current company if it increased automation investment.

7. Off all automated workflows, IT users created 55% while business users created 45% (Source)

The COVID pandemic led to more organizational departments automating their processes for improved efficiency. 

Previously, the majority of workflow automation was found in IT-based roles. However, the shift to remote work showed that employees were wasting a lot of time on mundane tasks that could be automated, like replying to emails to acknowledge receipt of a message. 

Therefore, many business users started to automate such workflows to improve work efficiency.

Among business users, product teams alone accounted for 19% of all automated workflows created. This was followed by business operations staff who work in marketing, finance, and sales operations, accounting for a combined 18% of the automated workflows created.

8. The percentage of companies with 5 or more departments automating doubled following the pandemic (Source)

Before the pandemic, 15% of companies had five or more departments automating their processes. Today that percentage has increased to approximately 33%.

Likewise, approximately 14% of companies had only one department automating processes a year before COVID-19. That percentage increased during the pandemic and today nearly one third of companies have five or more departments automating processes.

9. The order-to-cash process was the top automated workflow, accounting for 19% of all automated processes (Source)

Since the COVID pandemic, automation of the order-to-cash process has grown by 233%. 

Other major automated processes include: 

• Data pipelines and reverse ETL (extract, transform, load): These account for 12% of all automated processes, with a post-pandemic growth rate of 152%. These pipelines tend to connect business apps with major cloud data warehouses, including Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, and Google BigQuery.
• IT operations: Dethroned from the top position, IT operations account for 12% of all automated workflows with a growth rate of 165%.
• IT helpdesk: This accounts for 10% of all automated processes with a growth rate of 202%. This mostly involves AI-based chatbots.
• Sales operations: This department comprises 6% of all automated processes with a growth rate of 160%.
• Employee onboarding and offboarding: Accounts for 4% of all automated processes with a growth rate of 156%.
• Case-to-resolution: Also accounts for 4% of all automated processes, albeit with a massive growth rate of 280%.
• Employee 360: Comprises 3% of automated processes with a 125% growth rate since before the pandemic.
• Campaign operations: Accounts for 3% of all automated processes with a 197% growth rate.
• Customer account management: While this department accounts for 2% of all automated processes, it had a massive post-pandemic growth rate of 326%.

Automation in the customer account management department had the highest post-pandemic growth.

10. 60% of Americans believe tech developments will improve their job prospects (Source)

More than half of all US workers are confident they can adapt to new technologies, and that innovation will lead to better career options. The PwC study also found that 56% of US employees are excited and confident about the future of work.

Meanwhile, two thirds of APAC employees believe tech developments will lead to improved job opportunities, at 66%. However, only 43% of Europeans share that belief.

The study also found that most Americans are willing to quickly learn new digital skills, adapt to changing working conditions, and upskill to keep up with tech developments.

That said, only 39% of Americans believe that global trends like technological breakthroughs will affect how people work, compared to 51% globally. Meanwhile, only 26% of Americans believe that resource scarcity and climate change will affect how people work.

Furthermore, only 50% of Americans are worried about automation-led job risk while the global average is 61%.

Overall, results of the survey show that, in general, American employees are confident about the future of work and view technological developments as beneficial to their careers.

Workers in India and China are even more confident. They top the chart with 75% of Indian and 72% of Chinese employees being very confident about the future of work.

11. 88% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) say workplace automation allows their companies to compete with larger companies (Source)

Meanwhile, 34% of SMBs say automation reduces the time spent on administrative tasks, and more than 25% say automation reduces lead gen follow-up time.

With the COVID pandemic hitting the entire world, enterprises had the luxury of riding out the lockdown waves. But the majority of small and medium-sized businesses did not. That’s why so many of them opted for workplace automation and digital tools to stay afloat.

However, following the pandemic and the return of the traditional workforce, complementing processes with automation became an excellent way to compete against enterprise-level businesses.

In fact, 63% of SMBs say automation was key in pivoting their company as a result of the pandemic. Today, 66% of SMBs consider automation essential to running their businesses.

12. 65% of knowledge workers say they’re less stressed after automating manual tasks (Source)

Meanwhile, the Zapier survey of 2,000 knowledge workers in small and medium-sized businesses found that 67% say automation allows them to be more productive. Also, roughly two out of three knowledge workers recommend workplace automation to other businesses.

Additionally, 65% of knowledge workers say automation allows them to pick up slack, and 63% say it allows their company to pivot according to changing working landscapes.

Furthermore, 63% of knowledge workers say automation helps reduce burnout while 58% report that it helps save time.

13. 92% of workers say workplace automation has improved their lives (Source)

In fact, 52% of knowledge workers say they would rather spend two extra hours in traffic every day than give up their automation tools.

Of knowledge workers surveyed by Zapier, 94% perform repetitive, time-consuming tasks in their role. Workplace automation can take on the burden of these tasks, freeing workers to devote their attention to more productive duties.

For example, 66% of workers say automation allows them to focus on creative projects and tasks. Meanwhile, 20% of surveyed workers say automation helps improve the efficiency and accuracy of their work.

Conclusion 

Workplace automation today is no longer an option but in many cases is a necessity. 

It’s a highly effective tool for small and medium-sized businesses to compete with larger and more established businesses.

Meanwhile, workplace automation helps improve employee engagement, motivation, and efficiency.