AI Labor Management: Current Uses and Startup Showcase

AI Labor Management: Current Uses and Startup Showcase

In 2022, how does AI manage labor?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has particularly hit the ground running in the past 2 years, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is impacting the economy in ways that are significant but not readily visible. Specifically, businesses, large and small, have begun to implement AI to manage their labor. 86% of companies have stated that AI is becoming the mainstream technology for their processes, and 55% attributed their adoption of AI to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a practical sense, AI can help decrease workloads by automating repetitive tasks, and even scanning job sites to ensure safe work spaces. Whether it’s used to oversee work schedules, support talent acquisition and recruitment, or perform manual labor, AI continues to efficiently manage various forms of labor in a myriad of industries. Let’s take a look at how AI manages labor in specific sectors.

Human Resources

AI supports Human Resources (HR) management by predicting employee attrition. When necessary employees leave a company without much notice, that hurts the business. We know that employee retention is imperative to the success of any organization, that is why using AI to accurately forecast when an employee is planning on leaving is mission critical. At Iterate.ai, our low-code AI environment, Interplay®, is ready to use AI predictive analytics to predict the likelihood that an employee will leave your organization. 

AI also manages HR functions by analyzing data to ensure that your employees are being adequately compensated. Now more than ever, employees are advocating for fair compensation. By using big data (e.g. salary data from all competitors in your sector) you can rest assured that the various positions in your organization are being appropriately compensated based on market data.

Recruitment

Excellent recruitment efforts have been even more crucial for companies’ success since the Great Resignation. AI helps organizations with their recruitment processes by screening candidates, assessing applicants’ materials, and scheduling interviews. We’d be remiss to not mention that bias in AI can come out in recruitment processes, due to implicit biases that come from the humans that created and trained the AI itself. We still recommend using AI to benefit recruitment management, but with the commitment to conduct frequent algorithm readjustments in order to prevent bias from creeping into the AI. Additionally, using AI to replace tedious tasks, as opposed to completely replacing an actual recruiter (preferably one who is aware of bias and inclusion efforts) can aid in providing a harmless, yet optimal recruitment experience. 

Banking

AI in the banking industry is projected to hit 64.03 billion USD by 2030. AI is used in this sector in support of customer service roles (e.g. via chatbots and virtual assistants), for cybersecurity (e.g. using data from previous threats to predict future threats), and credit scoring. We are seeing AI continue to grow in this industry, from 52% of financial services using AI for revenue generation, to 56% using AI for risk management. Just as many other fields have seen large successes in using AI for customer service support, the banking industry has specifically branded their own use for AI in customer service management by way of the robo-advisor. This type of AI uses algorithms to perform tasks or make financial decisions (e.g. investing) by ultimately benefiting the customer. Incredibly well-known banks like Ally and Charles Schwab have their own robo-advisors, thanks to the power of AI.  

5 AI Labor Management Startups

In order for AI to properly manage labor across fields, large organizations must trust in startups to keep up with industry trends and provide the most innovative solutions. At Iterate.ai, we strongly believe in the power of startups because they are the leaders in innovation. When large enterprises join forces with startups, great solutions happen fast, that’s why we created our platform, Signals, that has indexed over 15.8M companies. Thanks to our proprietary AI, we can confidently find the perfect startup for you to partner with based on your needs and goals. Using what our Signals platform has recorded, let’s take a look at 5 AI labor management startups.

1. PRO Unlimited
   PRO Unlimited is a US startup that offers cutting edge AI solutions for labor management. This company offers vendor management, services procurement, direct sourcing, and talent intelligence solutions for its clients. Their integrated workforce management platform promises real-time intelligence that organizations need when prioritizing high-quality talent while managing costs. PRO Unlimited is data driven, sharing the world’s largest global market rate, salary, and talent intelligence dataset to its clients. Their approach when working with clients is to lead with innovation and placing clients at the absolute forefront of the partnership. 
2. Papaya Global
   This US startup offers an automated, cloud-based HR and payroll platform that has helped companies hire, onboard, manage, and pay employees in over 160 countries. Papaya Global has a 99% customer retention rate and has over 700 companies using their product to manage labor. They pride themselves on providing an AI labor management platform that uses data to drive informed decisions, and builds diversity, equity, and inclusion into companies’ onboarding process. This startup has even found that 90% of their customers’ organizational expansion is due to their personal partnership with Papaya Global. 
3. Seebo
   Based in Israel, Seebo is a startup that is prepared to empower production teams to predict and prevent production losses. Their proprietary, process-based AI reveals hidden causes of production losses and sends proactive alerts for their clients to know when to act to prevent inefficiencies. Seebo is confident that their AI labor management tool can support any manufacturing team because of their simple, intuitive interface. This company serves customers like Nestlé, Lindt, and General Mills by offering AI solutions to meet their production goals. Seebo also has use cases in steel and emission reduction areas, to name a few. 
4. Nowsta
   Trusted by large companies like Marriott, Nowsta is a staff management operating system (OS) that streamlines and simplifies people operations. This US company offers a tool that allows employers to hire, manage, and pay employees all in one platform. By using AI to automate workflows, Nowsta has supported over 10,000 managers in the restaurant, hospitality, tourism, and factory industries. As of this year, they have raised 41 million USD in funding and plan to use the money towards marketing and overall company and product growth. From an employee perspective, Nowsta is user-friendly because their platform allows a client’s employee to see open shifts and access their paycheck all from one platform. 
5. Legion
   Legion provides AI-powered workforce management to clients like Dollar General, Cinemark, and Aldo through their scalable platform. They are able to deploy at scale in as fast as 3 months and prioritize optimizing labor efficiency and enhancing employee experiences at the same time. Legion has also proven that with their product, their clients gain a 13x Return on Investment (ROI) and an increase in employee retention. This company’s AI labor management tool has increased workforce productivity in the health and fitness, retail, food services, and hospitality industries. 

Future labor management via AI

As we continue to implement AI labor management systems in the workplace, we must consider replacing the common question, “will AI replace me?” to one that asks, “am I ready to work with AI when it enters my work space?” AI isn’t going anywhere, especially not after proving to support so many organizations with labor management. Let’s take a look at a few potential realities for the future of AI labor management.

Workforce Reorganization

Using AI to manage labor has created a reorganization effect on organizational structures. AI is making companies less top-heavy and flatter hierarchically because of its ability to give entry-level workers the tools and knowledge to make high-stakes decisions. AI provides a safety net for these crucial decisions, thanks to its predictive and automated properties. Entry-level professionals now have more autonomy to move forward in decision-making without consulting with middle managers. This also creates a shift in who companies are hiring– organizations looking to incorporate AI for labor management may look to hire entry-level workers that have skills and familiarity with AI. As with any major digital transformation, the workforce becomes reorganized to fit innovation needs, we are currently seeing this happen with the use of AI for labor management.

Job Openings

Despite concerns that AI for labor management will replace human workers, we are seeing that AI actually creates more jobs than it destroys. In a future with AI labor management in every company, human workers will work with AI to their benefit. In the workplace, AI will teach employees where their bias comes in, making the workforce more aware and inclusive. AI also will automate those mundane tasks, freeing up workers’ time to focus on more important tasks and even get more of a break during the work day. Although it may feel like AI has the power to replace humans, we know that by 2025, this technology will create 12 million more jobs for workers. This will be a shift in labor and in the overall workforce, and it is necessary for companies to learn to lean into the benefits of AI for labor management.

Want to talk through how you can use AI to manage labor at your organization? Need a startup recommendation that will help you achieve your company’s goals? At Iterate.ai, we have a team of experts who are ready to support you, please contact us here.