TOP【RPA/Office Robot】RPA ColumnWhat is a digital labor (virtual intellectual worker)? Improvement of work efficiency and elimination of labor shortage realized by RPA​



Basic knowledge

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Do you know the word “digital labor”? It is generally translated as “virtual intellectual worker” and refers to a virtual worker who works on a computer.

In this article, we will explain the digital labor, which is thought to be greatly related to the working style in the near future.

Our workstyle change​ ​

Working styles change along with the time flow or technological innovation. For example, our life styles and work styles had changed a lot after the emergence of the Internet.

Also, with the advent of the Internet, we are able to communicate anywhere, anytime, regardless of time or place. Along with that, the content of work has also diversified. In other words, these new technologies can trigger the creation of new ways of working.

In addition, the digital labor which we will explain from now will be thought to be a change that brings about change in working style by new technology.

What is a digital labor (virtual intellectual worker)?

As mentioned above, digital labor refers to “virtual intelligent workers”. As a general concept, it is a software tool that realizes efficient and automated white-collar routine tasks on a computer.

RPA is a competent digital labor that supports work efficiency

RPA (Robotic Process Automation) that can automate office work is a kind of digital labor.

The major feature of RPA is that it can work quickly and accurately. For example, human beings get tired and lack concentration for doing repetitive works and sometimes we make mistakes. However, RPA never gets tired and does not make mistakes no matter how much the same work is repeated.

Besides that, when compared with a person who has limited time, RPA can work without rest regardless of working hours, and holidays. Of course, although maintenance is necessary, operation will not be hindered unless a trouble occurs. It will contribute to a dramatic improvement in operational efficiency.

Also, in Japan today, where the birthrate is declining and the aging poulation is accelerated, the decrease in the working population is highly concerned. However, RPA will create a stir to solve such problems. Unlike the limited human resources, RPA can be applied as much as there is required environment, so it helps companies suffering from lack of people.

Impact on our work by the advent of digital labor

What is concerned about the spread of digital labor is that human work is deprived. Certainly, from the standpoint of a worker, you may feel uneasy about the digital labor.

There is also some prediction that 130 million intellectual workers will be replaced by digital technology by 2025, and it is no doubt that the spread of digital labor will greatly affect how you work.

However, Digital Labor can not handle all tasks. Rather than having such anxiety, why don’t you think about it positively if you are free from simple tasks and repetitive work by introducing a digital labor and give time to other work?

For example, it is an advantage to introduce cumbersome and time-consuming routine work to RPA. For example, if you leave RPA to gather information and data inputs you are doing everyday, you can concentrate on tasks that require human-to-human communication.

In other words, if you consider the digital labor not to deprive people’s work, but to think that they are easy for human work, anxiety will be resolved.

The era of collaborating with digital labor

With the advent of the digital labor including RPA, it became possible to automate administrative work which only human beings could do in the past. Digital Labor is expected to contribute greatly to reduction of personnel expenses and lack of human resources, performance and accuracy are improving every day.

Leave the routine work to the digital laboratory, and if human beings do important work requiring judgment, business efficiency should improve. As it is to say, Digital Labor is a cooperative partner with human beings, and it can be said that digital labor is indispensable for the future era in which it is expected that the talent shortage will become more and more serious as the declining birthrate progresses.


Digital labor is a software tool, which can be a worker of a new era.

For example, if you compare introduction and labor costs, even if it costs temporarily, it will never be high considering that labor force. Considering from a long-term perspective, it can be thought that it is more advantageous than personnel expenses with limited work hours.

If you are interested in RPA, please consider “Office Robot” by all means. It is reasonable to start, the support system by distributors nationwide is also great, and it can be said that it is a very satisfying RPA in order to perform various tasks.

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