Admin tasks that could be handled by AI tools are costing US businesses more than $818 billion a year in lost staff time, according to a study.
Research among 3,000 American office workers found that those responsible for admin tasks – from writing emails, taking notes, and preparing reports – estimate they waste an average of over five and a half hours a week manually completing routine work.
Based on the average office worker salary of those polled being $115,779, this equates to $3 billion lost each working day.
The research revealed drafting emails is the single biggest drain on time, cited by 34 percent of workers.
This was followed by reading emails (31 percent), updating data in spreadsheets (19 percent), and preparing reports (14 percent).
Others added researching information online (17 percent), and analysing data (17 percent) were particularly time-consuming.
As a result, 46 percent feel overwhelmed by the amount of admin required in their role, with 50 percent admitting it has made them consider leaving their job.
Despite the growing availability of automation, 43 percent have some help from AI tools but could do with more, while 33 percent rarely or never use any tools to support their role.
The research was commissioned by Fyxer as part of its Admin Burden Index [http://www.fyxer.com/admin-burden-index], which explores the productivity cost of routine tasks and how this hidden drain could stunt business growth.
Rich Hollingsworth, CEO and co-founder of the email assistant, said: “Admin has quietly embedded itself into modern work.
“An extra 10 minutes here, an hour there, spread across hundreds or thousands of employees, quickly compounds into massive costs.
“Workers feel the drag, but without any way to solve it, businesses have normalised it as just ‘part of the job’.
“AI is ready and able to lift this burden, and workers are eager to accept the help. But they’re not seeing the tools they’re given actually rise to the challenge.”
It also emerged that 37 percent of those who feel overwhelmed by daily admin say it takes time away from their main responsibilities.
One in three find them repetitive and boring, and for 31 percent, the jobs pile up faster than they can do them.
Additionally, 55 percent have seen their workload increase over the past 12 months, and of those, they estimate 30 percent of this increase is admin-related.
As a result, 59 percent reported working longer than their contracted hours at least once a week, with 11 percent doing so every day.
On average, they reckon they work for nearly an extra hour.
The research, carried out by OnePoll, also explored email volumes, revealing that workers receive an average of 48 emails a day and send 36 in return.
Further data from Fyxer’s platform also reveals 40 percent of email activity takes place outside of working hours.
Writing and responding to emails alone takes up almost two hours of the average working day.
Rich added: “Menial, repetitive admin might seem low stakes, but it’s a major source of stress for even the highest-paid, most senior talent.
“Saddling workers with tasks that add little value kills focus, morale, and revenue.
“Email epitomizes this for so many: they’re expected to accept hours in their inboxes because it’s the status quo, while they scramble to do their real, meaningful work in the time they have left.”
Top 10 Admin Tasks Which Waste the Most Time:
- Writing or replying to emails
- Reading emails
- Researching information online
- Organising files/documents
- Analysing or summarising data
- Preparing reports
- Entering or updating data in spreadsheets or systems
- Managing to-do lists or task reminders
- Scheduling meetings or managing diaries
- Tracking project progress or deadlines
