Labour Shortage Effects on Automation
How it shows up
| Symptom | What it indicates |
|---|---|
| Overtime and agency staff | Wage inflation for repetitive roles |
| High turnover | Training cost and quality variation |
| Deferred shifts | Lost capacity, not lost demand |
| Older workforce | Skills leaving faster than they are replaced |
| Recruitment cost | Hard cost with no asset to show |
How to use it in a business case
- Quantify recruitment and training cost, not just wage rates.
- Include the cost of quality variation caused by churn.
- Use your own site data; averages rarely reflect local conditions.
Business cases based on local payroll data are more defensible than ones built on national averages.