Balancing the Costs Between Manual Labor and Robots

As an employer, you want to create a safe and productive workplace. This means finding the best options for your particular field and can include deciding whether to hire manual labor or utilize robots. There is a cost associated with both and you might be trying to decide which makes more sense. Use the following list to help you balance the cost between the two.

Consider more than just the hourly wages.

Think about the total cost of the labor including workers comp, benefits, taxes, training, recruiting and even turnover. Depending on the job, the numbers might make a clear determination for you or you might need to note other options.

Consider the work environment.

Manual labor tasks might take skilled workers from one area to another where they could be more effective. By letting the robots take over that job, your employees may be able to be in a safer, quieter area that is more fulfilling. The menial tasks required by a particular job could be done by a robot and that laborer could be better utilized somewhere else.

Consider the decreased injuries.

To put it simply, there are robots made to move the heavy stuff which can decrease injuries for your team. Robots can do some jobs faster and easier. You could see less workplace injury and an overall increase in health when your people aren’t physically straining to complete a job.

Consider overall employee well-being.

Do your people have to work in extreme temperatures? Robots are made to withstand those types of environments and have no repercussions. They perform the tasks regardless of the temperatures.

Consider the consistency.

Robots are generally more consistent than humans. Robots can be repaired when they are not working correctly and get right back to work.

While the initial cost of a robot can be daunting, investigate companies in your similar industry and research their discarded robots. You might be surprised to learn the much larger companies replace their robots on a regular basis, not just when their current robots stop working. So, they will discard a perfectly working robot just for a newer replacement. Your company could find significant savings in their older equipment. There are also several options to lease robots that might help with the initial cost.

Start with one robot for the most menial or difficult task your team deals with on a regular basis. This can be a great test to see how a robot will work for your particular business and if it saves time and money or creates more headache for you. With locations in Portland, Clackamas, Beaverton, Everett, and Vancouver, our skilled recruiters are ready to help you make your workplace the best it can be! Call NW Staffing today.