The digital divide is quietly crippling UK manufacturing, and AI can be transformative
Digital friction has become a major drag on productivity. Whether it’s a failed validation loop or a screen freeze just before a deadline, these daily issues now make big impacts.
And in the UK, where businesses are under pressure to raise productivity in a tough economic environment, unreliable technology has gone from being a minor distraction to a strategic risk.
Vice President of Strategic Technology at TeamViewer.
What we are seeing across the UK is how widespread the problem has become. In fact, nearly half of UK businesses (46%) say digital disruption has directly led to lost revenue and 55% report delays in critical projects.
At a time when British employers are looking for effective benefits, those are hard numbers to ignore.
A growing manufacturing problem in the UK
Digital disruption is often thought of as a series of small hiccups, but the cumulative impact is far from small. For many UK workers, IT inefficiencies eat up to a month of work, taking time away from productive, high-value work.
The causes of that lost time are known. Throughout the year, most employees experience connectivity issues, encounter software crashes, and face hardware failures or authentication issues.
These interruptions inevitably delay project delivery and often lead to missed deadlines. And it’s not just limited to one industry; most (if not all) are affected by its widespread impact.
UK organizations continue to invest in digital tools, but systems designed to automate work instead add new layers of complexity. Finally, the complex technological environment has created a growing leadership challenge that must be addressed.
Human outcomes: workarounds, trust gaps, and increased income
The impact of digital disruption is shaping how UK workers feel about their jobs and whether they choose to stay or not. Technology frustration is a major driver here, with a large number of employees choosing to leave due to their experience with ongoing IT issues and digital friction.
Young workers feel this most. As they have grown up with intuitive consumer technology, they have little patience for tools that slow them down. When systems fail repeatedly, they psychologically disintegrate, leaving teams feeling the collapse.
Each ride has its own production costs and respondents estimate that it takes about eight weeks to ride one.
Workarounds are also becoming a common issue, with many employees using personal devices or unauthorized applications to stay productive.
While these barriers may keep work running in the short term, they create security gaps and reduce organizational visibility at a time when cyber threats are on the rise, a global trend the UK is not immune to.
Trust compounds the problem. More than half of employees worldwide do not believe that their IT teams can solve problems quickly or effectively and also doubt that they have access to the latest AI or digital tools. When employees feel unsupported by their technology, it affects motivation and ultimately productivity.
AI is changing the workplace equation
Despite these challenges, UK workers are optimistic about the role AI can play in reducing digital conflict. Nearly half (48%) believe AI can help reduce IT inefficiencies, and just over half (52%) are open to AI taking over mundane tasks like troubleshooting or password resets so they can focus on higher-value work.
The shift from reactive to proactive IT support is at the heart of this prospect. AI-driven detection and remediation can spot problems before employees do, apply automatic remediation, and identify patterns that are difficult to spot manually.
Instead of waiting for a ticket to be escalated, something 54% of employees admit they tend to avoid doing, systems can solve problems in the background and escalate only when necessary. This creates a seamless digital experience across different work environments, be it remote, hybrid, or office-based.
However, this hope is limited. Employees sometimes report that the AI tools they have tried are not enough. Many employees remain unsure of what agent AIs do or how they fit into their workflow. Without trust, clear communication and the right infrastructure, AI risks becoming another layer of complexity rather than a solution.
When organizations define how AI is used, how data is managed, and how these tools support employees, trust increases and conflict decreases.
Building a strong digital workplace
Reducing digital friction starts with visibility. Many UK leaders still lack real-time visibility into how their digital environments are performing or how employees are interacting with them on a day-to-day basis.
Without limited understanding of digital workplace tools and quality feedback from employees, conflicts remain hidden and unresolved. AI can help pre-empt problems with continuous monitoring and automatic corrections.
In the coming year, many organizations will move from reactive support models to proactive, automated maintenance, which reduces the need for Shadow IT, builds trust between IT teams and the wider business, and builds a strong foundation for employee productivity.
With expectations rising and resources under pressure, this kind of forward-thinking approach has become essential to productivity.
Digital conflict will not disappear overnight, but organizations can significantly reduce it. UK businesses that thrive will be those that see productivity driven less by where people work and more by whether their tools allow them to work without interruption.
Hybrid work is the norm, and AI is embedded in the workflow. As a result, profits will remain with organizations that remove obstacles and adopt smart systems to support their teams and keep work moving.
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