‘The world of work is changing fast’: Barely any workers think their job is safe as worries about AI refuse to go away
- New data reveals that most workers fear AI’s potential impact on their jobs
- Employees who feel secure in their roles are more productive and engaged
- Employers must prioritize communication and invest in training and upskilling
New data from ADP’s People at Work 2026 report, which covers more than 39,000 working adults from 36 markets, confirms that most workers are still highly concerned about AI’s impact on their jobs, even though today’s tangible impacts are relatively minimal.
Only one in four UK workers strongly agree their job is safe from being replaced, and this drops to around one in five (21%) in Europe as a whole and 22% globally.
ADP’s report highlights a major disconnect between employment figures, which are generally pretty strong, and employees’ personal expectations about their roles’ futures.
Poor AI communication is creating a confidence gap
“The world of work is changing fast, and our findings reveal a gap between what the labour market is telling us and what employees are feeling,” ADP UK&NI SVP and GM Jeff Phipps said, noting that “employment is strong.”
The report, one of the most extensive of its kind, shows that confidence actually varies widely according to the nature of an employee’s role, with knowledge workers feeling more confident. Around one in three (34%) UK knowledge workers agree their jobs are safe, but only 19% of UK workers in repetitive roles feel secure.
But a sense of job security doesn’t just play into a worker’s satisfaction – it could also be impacting how they work, and the productivity that an employer sees. Workers who feel their jobs are secure are 6x more likely to be fully engaged at work and around 3x more likely to report high productivity.
Workers who feel secure are also around 2x as likely to say they have no intention of leaving their employer.
More job security creates higher-performing workers
It seems that greater confidence about the future may enable employees to concentrate more on their work and raise their contributions, indicating a clear need for positive communication from management.
ADP advises employers to be transparent about any organizational and technological changes, and to explain how employees’ roles could be affected so that they don’t instantly assume their jobs could be at risk. The report also puts the responsibility of training and upskilling on employers.
“People want to know there’s a place for them as their organisation evolves, and that they’ll be supported to get there,” Phipps added.
The report also reveals that the bigger the company, the less confident a worker is likely to feel. Large corporations see a 22% confidence level, compared with 36% for mid-sized companies. In Europe, the inverse is true, proving that the world is still struggling to get to grips with AI communication and training regardless of geography or company size.
“The businesses that treat this seriously – investing in skills and being honest about change – are the ones seeing the payoff in how people perform and whether they stay,” Phipps said, urging companies to factor much more than mere tech implementation into their AI strategies as they risk losing workers.
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