How is Perk Tacking the US$1.7tn Cost of Shadow Work?
Employees are facing a major drain on their time and focus due to tasks that fall outside of their main job descriptions.
New research from Perk has labelled this phenomenon “shadow work” and it is estimated to be costing businesses globally US$1.7tn each year. For Human Resources (HR) Leaders this drain on productivity is intrinsically linked to employee wellbeing and satisfaction.
The study, which was conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Perk gathered responses from over 700 decision-makers in finance, operations, HR and IT.
It also included insights from more than 8,000 employees across the UK, US, Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands. The companies involved ranged from small businesses with over 50 employees to large enterprises with more than 5,000 staff members.
The impact of shadow work on UK employees
The data indicates a particular challenge within the UK where employees are losing approximately nine hours per week to these non-essential administrative tasks.
According to the research every time an employee is distracted by shadow work it takes them 12 minutes to regain focus on their primary duties.
The cumulative effect on UK teams could be substantial with the research highlighting that 76% of employees engage in shadow work during their working hours.
The human cost of this lost time is a direct concern for HR chiefs as 50% of UK-based staff identify it as the leading cause of burnout. This pressure appears to be mounting with 59% of employees reporting that the volume of shadow work they handle is increasing every year.
This has a clear impact on morale as 52% state that shadow work lowers their job satisfaction.
- 76% of UK employees do shadow work during working hours
- 50% of those based in the UK cite it as the biggest driver of burnout
- 59% of UK employees report shadow work is rising year-on-year
- 52% of UK employees say shadow work reduces their job satisfaction
- 75% of UK employees surveyed would welcome AI-enabled tools to help cut shadow work
AI and automation to improve employee experience
There is a clear appetite among employees for new solutions to this problem. The research from Perk found that 75% of UK employees would be open to using AI-enabled tools to reduce the burden of these tasks.
This sentiment is shared by business leaders. The study found that around 71% of UK decision-makers surveyed are planning to reinvest the time saved through automation into strategic areas such as growth and innovation.
This alignment presents an opportunity for HR leaders to champion technology that serves both business objectives and employee wellbeing. Avi Meir, Perk CEO and Co-Founder says: “More than a decade ago we started by removing the friction from travelling for work.
“Over time we realised those small frustrating tasks people do outside of their core job weren’t just hiding in travel; they were everywhere. To truly solve the problem we first had to grasp its scale and the numbers from the research surprised even me.”
Avi questions the viability of the current situation asking: “How can a 1,000-person company afford to lose around 7,000 hours to shadow work every week? Perk gives companies the fuel they need to make work simpler and give people their time back.”
Integrating travel and spend to reduce administration
To address these challenges Perk has launched a new platform that integrates travel and spend management with an AI-native experience. The firm aims to tackle the hidden administrative load that hampers efficiency such as booking business trips, filing expenses, coding invoices and chasing approvals.
The platform’s AI-native module is designed to automate many of the tasks that can slow down operations. With the introduction of Perk Pay companies can use physical cards to simplify employee spending while maintaining corporate control over transactions.
This system centralises the oversight of company expenditure which could reduce the risk of fraud and automates the expense reconciliation process.
Perk’s platform now automates 67% of the most common non-core tasks including booking work-related travel, filing expenses, managing invoices and organising team events.
To support its next phase of growth Perk is establishing dual headquarters in London and Boston following two strategic acquisitions and a Series E financing round to fuel further innovation in AI.
