For all fast-growing, Asian economies are struggling to cope with stagnant productivity. Most of Asia Recent growth It is driven by greater investment, not by the way that total factor productivity increases or effective input becomes output. At best, productivity growth is slowing down. Worst of all, it’s going down.
Even though productivity is still increasing, it is not done Catch up quickly enough Leading companies in developed markets such as the United States throughout the 2010s, companies throughout Southeast Asia Increase productivity Below the global average. (In contrast, China manages to keep up.)
“In almost every Asian market, productivity as a measure of GDP divided by per capita GDP is stagnating or declining,” said Simon Tate, president of the Asia Pacific region of Workday. “Every executive I spoke with was concerned about productivity, whether it was due to aging population, poor public policy or the rise of remote work.
In the past, Asian companies could easily solve the productivity problem: just throw more people on this issue. Cheap labor allows manufacturers and companies to expand without compromising profit margins.
But as Asia’s economy grows bigger, hiring more people is no longer the simple solution of the past. “No more people,” Tate said. “Just throwing people on this issue is no more productivity.”
Let the youth take over
Executives like Tate often think of AI, especially “Agent AI“can help increase productivity. In theory, these newer AI forms can perform user-defined tasks autonomously, thus freeing up human employees to do more.
Almost all Asian companies say they want to adopt these new technologies. A February survey by Accenture found that nine out of 10 Asian businesses are preparing to adopt some form of proxy AI over the next three years.
But actually putting these models into practice is another problem, especially for older executives with little AI experience, let alone AI agents.
Tate notes that the workplace in Asia will soon become a different home for five generations, from the baby boomer generation to the youngest workers, the so-called generational alpha.
“The Alpha generation will be more digital fluent than the other four generations combined,” Tate said, adding that today’s HR officials are “not ready at all”, a flood of young workers who are proficient in AI.
According to a recent Workday report, about 80% of the Asia-Pacific generation workers want to have the most modern technology. More than two-thirds of these workers view the lack of cutting-edge technology as negative.
But Tate believes the answer is more than just giving young employees room to thrive in the office. He advised Asian companies to grow further and see the younger generation as a source of much-needed expertise.
“When you look at the board results of the top 100 listed companies in the Asia Pacific region, board positions (even advisory board positions) are still very much made up of baby boomers and Xers,” he said.
Tate advises companies to consider “reverse guidance” or let young people train older people in how best to apply new technologies. Like those who may require older people to serve as board directors, Tate is building a company that considers appointing a young member of society to provide their own technical and business expertise.
“We just mistakenly think they’re too young and have no good ideas,” he said. “If you put a bunch of very smart, super ambitious people in the room and ask them questions, they’ll add value to help solve it.”
