Administrative tasks that could be automated through AI are draining over £100 billion annually from UK businesses in wasted employee hours. Research involving 2,000 UK adults revealed office workers handling administrative duties – from composing emails to minute-taking and report preparation – reckon they waste approximately five hours and forty-two minutes weekly on manual routine work.

With the average office worker salary amongst respondents sitting at £56,000, this translates to £387 million lost productivity each working day. The research revealed drafting emails is the single biggest drain on time, cited by 26% of workers. This was followed by analysing data (15%) and manually entering information (14%). 

As a result, 57% feel overwhelmed by the amount of admin required in their role, with 46% admitting it has made them consider leaving their job.

Despite the growing availability of automation, 47% have some help from AI tools but could do with more, while 32% rarely or never use any tools to support their role.

The study was commissioned by Fyxer for its Admin Burden Index, which explores the productivity cost of routine tasks and how this hidden drain could stunt business growth.

Rich Hollingsworth, CEO and co-founder of Fyxer, said: “Admin has quietly embedded itself into modern work. An extra 10 minutes here, an hour there, spread across hundreds or thousands of employees, quickly compounds into massive costs.”

He added: “Workers feel the drag, but without any way to solve it, businesses have normalised it as just ‘part of the job’. AI is ready and able to lift this burden, and workers are eager to accept the help. But they’re not seeing the tools they’re given actually rise to the challenge.”

The study also found 33% of those overwhelmed by daily administrative work say tasks accumulate faster than they can finish them. Meanwhile, 32% feel admin steals time from their primary duties.

More than half say their workload has grown over the past 12 months, and of those, they estimate more than a quarter (28%) of this rise is administration related. Consequently, 34% reported working beyond their contracted hours several times weekly, with 8% doing so daily.

The research, conducted by OnePoll, also revealed workers receive an average of 43 emails daily and send 34 in return. Additional data from Fyxer’s platform also shows 40% of email activity occurs outside of working hours. 

Rich added: “Menial, repetitive admin might seem low stakes, but it’s a major source of stress for even the highest-paid, most senior talent. Saddling workers with tasks that add little value kills focus, morale, and revenue.

“Email epitomises this for so many: they’re expected to accept hours in their inboxes because it’s the status quo, while they scramble to do their real, meaningful work in the time they have left.”

TOP 10 ADMIN TASKS WHICH WASTE THE MOST TIME:

1. Writing or replying to emails
2. Reading emails
3. Analysing or summarising data
4. Entering or updating data in spreadsheets or systems
5. Researching information online
6. Preparing reports
7. Organising files/documents
8. Responding to customer queries
9. Tracking project progress or deadlines
10. Managing to-do lists or task reminders