What is "Monkey Work"?

What Qualifies as Monkey Work?

Let’s face it: not every task in the office feels like a creative breakthrough or a strategic win. Some jobs are just plain tedious—endless copying and pasting, answering the same emails day after day, entering data into the same spreadsheets, or processing identical documents on repeat. We call this monkey work: the repetitive, expensive, and time-consuming tasks that bog down humans in offices every single day. But what exactly qualifies as monkey work, and how can you spot it in your own company? More importantly, how can AI agents step in to free your team from this mindless grind? Let’s dive in.

Defining Monkey Work: The Silent Productivity Killer

Monkey work isn’t just busywork—it’s the kind of repetitive labor that drains time, energy, and morale without adding real value. Studies paint a stark picture of this problem. According to a 2021 UiPath survey, over two-thirds (67%) of global office workers feel crushed by repetitive tasks, wasting an average of 4.5 hours a week on duties they believe could be automated. Another report from ProcessMaker in 2024 found that office workers spend over 50% of their time on repetitive activities, like manual data entry or document updates. That’s more than half the workday lost to tasks a trained monkey—or better yet, an AI agent—could handle.

So, what qualifies as monkey work? It’s any task that’s:

• Repetitive: Done the same way, over and over, with little variation.

• Time-Consumptive: Eats up hours that could be spent on higher-value work.

• Low-Skill: Requires minimal creativity or decision-making.

• Error-Prone: Prone to human mistakes due to boredom or fatigue.

Think of copying data between systems, responding to routine customer inquiries with the same script, or filling out the same forms daily. These are the culprits stealing your team’s potential—and your company’s bottom line.

The Real Cost of Monkey Work

The impact goes beyond wasted time. A 2023 ServiceNow study revealed that Canadian office workers spend nearly 14 hours a week on repetitive tasks, with 63% feeling their employers lack solutions to address it. Automation Anywhere’s 2020 global survey of over 10,000 workers found that nearly half (47%) find these tasks boring, while 64% say they hurt productivity. This isn’t just a time suck—it’s a morale killer. Employees stuck in monkey work loops report higher burnout, lower job satisfaction, and even consider jumping ship when the monotony becomes too much.

For businesses, the cost is equally steep. Hours spent on manual data entry or redundant email responses translate to higher labor expenses and missed opportunities for innovation. It’s no wonder 80% of tech leaders, per a RingCentral report, see AI as a productivity booster—because monkey work is a problem begging for a smarter fix.

How to Identify Monkey Work in Your Company

Spotting monkey work doesn’t require a magnifying glass—it’s hiding in plain sight. Here are practical techniques to single out these tasks and determine if AI agents can realistically solve them:

1. Track Time-Intensive Patterns
   Ask your team to log their daily activities for a week. Look for tasks that eat up disproportionate time but don’t vary much—like entering sales data into a CRM or formatting reports. If it’s predictable and frequent, it’s likely monkey work ripe for AI automation.

2. Spot the Copy-Paste Culprits
   ProcessMaker’s research highlights that the average office worker performs over 1,000 copy-paste actions weekly. Check your workflows: Are employees shuttling data between systems (e.g., Excel to a database) or duplicating text across emails? These are prime candidates for an AI agent to streamline.

3. Listen for the groans
   Pay attention to what your team complains about. A UiPath report notes that 58% of workers feel repetitive tasks stifle creativity. If they’re grumbling about answering the same questions or processing the same paperwork, you’ve found monkey work screaming for relief.

4. Test for Skill Level
   Does the task require deep thought or expertise—or could a newbie do it with basic instructions? Microsoft’s 2023 Work Trend Index suggests AI excels at “necessary but repetitive” jobs like scheduling or summarizing notes. Low-skill, high-frequency tasks are perfect for AI agents.

5. Measure Error Rates
   Repetition breeds mistakes. Automation Anywhere found that manual, repetitive tasks are “ripe for human error.” If your team’s data entry or document processing has frequent slip-ups, it’s a sign AI could deliver accuracy and efficiency.

How AI Agents Tackle Monkey Work

Our vertical AI agents are built to banish monkey work for good. They’re not one-size-fits-all bots—they’re specialized problem-solvers trained for your industry’s unique grunt tasks. Here’s some simple examples on a few tasks agents can do:

• Data Entry: Automatically pull info from emails, forms, or PDFs and plug it into your systems—no human hands required.

• Email Responses: Draft replies to routine inquiries in seconds, leaving only complex cases for your team.

• Document Processing: Extract key details from invoices or contracts and file them correctly, every time.

• Spreadsheet Updates: Sync data across platforms without the endless copy-paste shuffle.

These are only generic tasks that are most common across industries. Tell us about your tasks and we'll figure out how to automate them!

Take the First Step: Audit Your Monkey Work Today

Ready to liberate your team? Start with a simple audit. Walk through your office (or virtual workspace) and ask: What’s repetitive? What’s eating time? What’s driving people nuts? Chances are, you’ll uncover a jungle of monkey work—and our AI agents are here to clear the vines.

Monkey work doesn’t have to define your workday. Let us help you identify it, automate it, and turn those wasted hours into wins. Contact us today to see how our agents can transform your office—one repetitive task at a time.