Seven out of 10 domestic corporations have boosted productivity by adopting artificial intelligence (AI), but a survey found that organizational efficiency is being cut in half by the so-called "rework tax"—the fallout from manually revising and rechecking AI-generated outputs.
Workday, a corporate AI platform specialist, stated accordingly as it released on the 11th the report "Beyond productivity: Measuring AI's true value," conducted jointly with Hanover Research.
According to the report, 69% of employees in Korea said productivity improved after adopting AI. In particular, 82% of respondents were found to be saving at least 1 hour to as much as 7 hours per week by using AI. Of the total workforce, 53% said they were saving 1–3 hours, and 29% said they were saving 4–7 hours.
The report analyzed that the problem is the "rework tax" phenomenon is acting as a factor preventing AI-saved time from turning into tangible return on investment (ROI). In fact, 31% of respondents were spending an average of 1–2 hours each week clarifying, correcting, or rewriting low-quality AI-generated outputs.
Shan Moorthy, chief technology officer (CTO) for Asia-Pacific at Workday, said, "In the Korean market, increasingly sophisticated AI tools are being applied as is to outdated job structures, shifting the burden of reliability and accuracy back onto individual employees."
Workday identified structural lag as a key challenge for Korean corporations. The report said, "Currently, fewer than half of domestic job roles have been updated to reflect AI capabilities, so employees are using 2026-level technology within job structures at the 2015 level, 11 years ago," adding, "As a result, the burden persists of having to manage faster-delivered outputs within rigid and outdated business processes."
It advised, "Corporations need to support employees in effectively using AI in areas that require judgment and creativity to reduce repetitive rework and improve performance, thereby converting AI-saved time into sustainable corporate value."