Admin that could be handled by AI tools is costing UK businesses more than £100 billion a year in lost staff time.
Studies of 2,000 UK adults and office workers found those responsible for admin tasks – from writing emails, taking notes and preparing reports – estimate they waste an average of five hours and forty-two minutes a week manually completing routine work.
Based on the average office worker salary of those polled being £56,000, this equates to £387 million lost each working day.
The research revealed drafting emails is the single biggest drain on time, cited by 26 per cent of workers.
This was followed by analysing data (15 per cent) and manually entering information (14 per cent).
Others added researching information online (14 per cent) and preparing reports (13 per cent) were particularly time-consuming.
As a result, 57 per cent feel overwhelmed by the amount of admin required in their role, with 46 per cent admitting it has made them consider leaving their job.
Despite the growing availability of automation, 47 per cent have some help from AI tools but could do with more, while 32 per cent 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 Fyxer 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 33 per cent of those who feel overwhelmed by daily admin say tasks pile up faster than they can complete them.
While 32 per cent feel admin takes time away from their core responsibilities, and 30 per cent believe it requires an excessive level of attention to detail.
Additionally, 53 per cent have seen their workload has increased over the past 12 months, and of those, they estimate more than a quarter (28 per cent) of this increase is admin related.
As a result, 34 per cent reported working longer than their contracted hours several times a week, with eight per cent 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 workers receive an average of 43 emails a day and send 34 in return.
Further data from Fyxer’s platform also reveals 40 per cent 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 epitomises 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
1. Writing or replying to emails
2. Reading emails
3. Analysing or summarising data
4. Entering or updating data in spreadsheets or systems
5. Researching information online
6. Preparing reports
7. Organising files/documents
8. Responding to customer queries
9. Tracking project progress or deadlines
10. Managing to-do lists or task reminders
