67% Digital Workers in India Use Digital Technologies to Be More Effective at Work: Gartner

According to a survey by Gartner, 67% of digital workers in India said emerging technologies such as machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) are increasing their effectiveness at work. The Gartner 2019 Digital Workplace Survey found that India is the most digitally dexterous country in the world – followed by the U.K. and the U.S., due to having the largest Gen Z workforce along with the desire to learn new skills using digital technologies in the workplace. Twenty-seven percent of the digital workers in India are skilled experts in digital technology for work purposes. The 2019 Gartner Digital Workplace Survey was conducted online from March through April 2019 among 7,261 respondents in the U.S., France, Germany and the U.K. China, India and Singapore.

“Seven out of ten employees in India said that adoption of new digital technologies will create career opportunities and higher paying jobs,” said Rashmi Choudhary, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Technical professionals are firm believers of adopting new digital technologies in comparison to manual, skilled and semi-skilled manual workers.”

In terms of tools that employees use for real-time collaboration, digital workers in Singapore and India use real-time messaging and social media network tools more frequently than their counterparts in China, France, Germany, U.S., and U.K. “Digital tools improve employee collaboration through crowdsourcing and cross-pollination, thereby improving the digital dexterity of workers,” said Ms. Choudhary.

Forty-five percent of digital workers in India do not mind having their work habits tracked and monitored by digital technologies. This figure is the highest amongst the surveyed respondents. “Digital workers in India believe that an intelligent workplace contributes to increased focus on more meaningful, business-critical work. At the same time, they expect that their organization is mitigating the risk it entails by being monitored,” said Ms. Choudhary.

Digital Workers Are More Inclined to Be Trained On-The-Job

The survey also showed that digital workers not only want formal training which consists of classroom modules and workshops but are also willing to undertake on-the-job (OTJ) and just-in-time (JIT) training to enhance their digital skills at work. In India, 39% of digital workers want to be trained OTJ to keep their knowledge on AI, ML, IoT up to date, which is the highest amongst the survey respondents.

“Continuous employee training and coaching on using emerging digital technologies is critical to maintain and enhance their digital dexterity at work,” said Ms. Choudhary. “Workers in India are looking for employers who invest in skills upgrading to allow them to remain adaptable and versatile in their career.”

Gartner clients can learn more in the report “Survey Analysis: Global Nations Reveal How Organizations Can Overcome Digital Dexterity Hurdles.”