Nearly half of employees in the UK would be attracted to work for an organisation that was investing in automation, or has plans to do so, however organisations are failing to promote their investment in automation to potential job candidates, according to Hays.

The research found that 48% of employees would be attracted to work for an organisation that was investing in automation or has plans to do so. At the same time, while 70% of firms are investing in automation, 24% do not currently promote their technological investment in any way when hiring.

“Employers are urged to better promote their investment in automation and technology when recruiting to avoid missing out on top talent,” Hays stated.

Currently, 37% of organisations say they promote their organisation’s investment in digital transformation during interviews, a third (34%) said they promote on their website and over a quarter (27%) do so in job ads.

The research comes as employers are struggling with skills shortages across several sectors, with 58% of employers saying they lack the skills to implement automation amongst existing staff, while 39% say they are experiencing moderate to severe skills shortages when hiring.

Hays found that staff in the private sector are slightly more interested in working for an organisation that is investing in digital transformation, at 50% compared to 43% of workers in the public sector.

Meanwhile, 51% of professionals currently working in ‘very large’ organisations are more likely to want to work for an employer who is investing in digital transformation, more so than 42% of professionals currently working in small organisations.

 Of the respondents who said they wanted to work for an organisation that is investing in digital transformation, over half (56%) expect to be updated about this in an interview, 50% expect to see information in job adverts and 48% also expect to be able to find information on an employer’s website. Meanwhile, 13% expect to find out about digital transformation investment at offer stage, and 17% expect this during onboarding.

Simon Winfield, Managing Director of Hays UK & Ireland, commented, “As employers compete to find talent, they should be promoting their investment at key points in the hiring process, ranging from job ads to the interview stage. By promoting it more heavily they’ll open up the talent pool by appealing to workers who rate this investment highly.”