New report finds a structural 'copy/paste economy' that's slowing workforce transformation
There is a "hidden workload" that is holding back employers in Southeast Asia from achieving workforce transformation, and employers have the opportunity to address this with workflow-integrated AI.
This is according to the latest report from Workday, which surveyed 300 professionals from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand across HR, finance, IT, and operations who actively use AI in their roles.
The report identified the hidden problem as the significant time that more than eight out of 10 respondents spend to coordinate across teams (84%), move information between tools (84%), and reconciling conflicting data (82%).
"This hidden workload we've dubbed the copy/paste economy creates friction, slows decision-making, and contributes to unnecessary stress - despite employees feeling productive on the surface," the report read.
Barrier to workforce transformation
This "hidden workload" is holding employers back from achieving workforce transformation, according to the report, which pointed out that employers already have most of the ingredients needed for it.
It found that 97% of employees in the region are already working their day-to-day positively, and another 93% reported making meaningful progress on a typical work day.
Most employees also feel a strong sense of ownership over their work (92%) and reported feeling proud of the outcome their work produces (90%), the findings revealed.
"What's driving this feel-good factor? People often lean on culture, personal growth, and the very things that are core to human motivation," the report read.
But the report noted that the high engagement is trumped by overburden from technology, with employees left to act like "glue between disparate systems."
"The real friction is structural – unclear guidance, inconsistent outputs, and tools that don't integrate where work actually happens," said Jess O'Reilly, General Manager, ASEAN, Workday.
What needs to be done?
O'Reilly added that organisations need to "move beyond task-based AI use cases to an operating model where AI is integrated within the flow of work for greatest effectiveness."
According to the report, AI has the potential to address the copy/paste time waste by embedding the technology into the systems that already run the business.
It cited some organisations in Asia Pacific and Japan, where employees in firms with AI deeply embedded in core systems are more likely to report meaningful time savings.
"When AI is integrated into workflows instead of just individual tasks, it can not only improve productivity but also increase employee satisfaction, creativity, and strategic thinking," the report read.
