New research reveals that over half of workers in manufacturing and logistics have seen colleagues reducing work quality and skipping essential processes in the past year – a concerning sign for industry compliance.
The Resilience nation report, commissioned by regulatory and compliance software leader Ideagen, gathered insights from over 4,000 individuals in the US, UK and Australia working in critical industries such as energy, aviation, healthcare and financial services. The results explore the major threats and macroeconomic factors affecting people today, providing perspectives on resilience across global landscapes.
Ben Dorks, CEO of Ideagen, comments on the findings: “Workers are facing growing pressures in and out of the workplace. People are being asked to deliver more at work when their resilience is being challenged by economic and political headwinds. Ultimately, this is having a determinantal impact on business productivity, workplace health and safety and the quality of work produced, as well as further reducing the resilience of the nation at large.
Key Takeaways:
- The comparative study found that manufacturing and logistics workers are seeing people reduce the quality of their work and not follow processes in the workplace, with rates exceeding the overall average by 11% and 8%, respectively.
- 41% reported seeing mistakes being hidden by peers, and 45% observed coworkers cutting corners due to apathy – 9% above the average. The results also showed that workers are seeing colleagues take risks with their personal safety – with over a third of respondents concerned with having seen people putting themselves in physical danger.
- Overall, the industry average reveals that 17% of workers feel less personally resilient than last year, 6% higher than the overall average and not helped by the results in the UK (19%) and Australia (20%).
- External pressures are affecting daily work life and personal resilience among manufacturing and logistics workers. Rising costs of living impacted the biggest proportion in the sector (39%), closely followed by inflation rates, supply chain challenges and energy prices.
- The results also suggest respondents are facing a “big squeeze” at work, being asked to deliver more despite reduced capacity. This is leading to a manufacturing and logistics workforce under strain. More than half (58%) reported increased workloads and expanded job scopes, with 52% mentioning they are working longer hours.
- The research did, however, show some positive signs of resilience in the industry. Manufacturing and logistics are leading the way in using technology to streamline tasks, with production line machinery as a prime example of this in action. Looking ahead, there's a strong push worldwide, especially in the US and UK, for companies to invest more in technology to boost efficiency. Talent development and health and safety initiatives are also seen as priorities.
