As the world economy gradually descends into a recession, companies everywhere are starting to reevaluate their contingency plans. And the majority of them now rank finding innovative methods to increase productivity as their top priority. Not unexpectedly, the approaches that many are adopting center around carefully considered technological investments. Additionally, some patterns can already be seen in their broadest forms. These are the top three areas in which firms facing an impending recession should invest in technology.
Technology for Employee Productivity
In an effort to minimize their hiring requirements as the labor markets tightened, companies initially focused on increasing the productivity of their current workforce. And this is supported by the existing data. The rise in per-worker productivity in the European Union is currently approaching near-historic levels, with a YoY of 3.05% in December 2021.
The reason for this is that European companies have started making significant investments in workforce productivity technology. Large international companies set the standard by recording sharp growth in the proportion of employees utilizing digital tools for sharing, collaborating, and communicating.
Additionally, an incredible 89% of European businesses adopted the trend by investing in the technology needed to support a hybrid workforce. This has required significant expenditures for the infrastructure supporting remote work, such as videoconferencing, employee tracker such as Controlio, and virtual office technology.
Analytics and Big Data Tools
Big data and analytics technologies are another area where European corporations have been making significant investments. An industry survey indicates that $50 billion was spent in that technological area in 2021, and this year is expected to see even more gains. This is taking place as a result of companies in the area attempting to set up the infrastructure required to support their fledgling automation projects.
Businesses in Europe are particularly investing in goods like social media analytics and digital advertising. Additionally, they are attempting to dismantle the obstacles posed by data silos in order to make data sharing across their diverse organizational units simpler. Financial controllers, for example, might incorporate Instagram analytics data into their reports to more effectively justify expenditure to C-suite decision-makers by exporting the data.
Automation of Robotic Processes
The final significant technology sector that is receiving a lot of investment in Europe is robotic process automation. European companies are currently creating automation programs to complement their expanding data and analytics departments. Furthermore, these programs are enormous in scope.
By 2040, automation projects of today will replace 12 million jobs in Europe, according to research by Forrester. Furthermore, a large portion of the number relates to jobs that include simple, repetitive duties. However, other segments of the workforce will also be affected.
A fresh wave of automation is also sweeping through the manufacturing industry, with some facilities now fully automated. As a result, labor spending will decline across a number of industries, which will assist companies in offsetting the losses they anticipate from the upcoming recession.
Final Word
Numerous European sectors are seeing a rapid increase in technological investments due to the present economic climate. It also suggests that a significant change in the labor market is starting to emerge, the long-term implications of which are yet unknown. But European companies are relying on their IT investments to get them through an increasingly inevitable crisis.
Their 3 main initiatives are to increase productivity per worker, reduce labor expenses, and enhance operational efficiency. All that’s left to ask is whether the rush of capital will pay off and spare European companies from the negative financial effects. If so, Europe’s interconnected economies will undoubtedly look very different from how they do now when the next recession hits, and they will be prepared to take on the problems that lie ahead.