PwC Survey On Workforce, AI Skills & More

PwC’s 2026 Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey, which interviewed nearly 50,000 workers across 48 countries and regions, finds diverging optimism in the growth trajectories and experiences of employees – as workers face rapid change, rising workloads and greater cost-of-living pressures.

A spokesperson said, “A growing AI skills divide is creating a diverging workforce, with the majority of workers at risk of being left behind as access to learning and development falls – even as AI use and the pace of workplace change accelerate.

“Just 51% say they have access to the learning and development resources they need, down from 59% last year.

“The divide is particularly stark among the 56% of ‘engine room’ workers whose skills are less scarce and who are not far along the AI learning curve: only two in five of those workers say they have access to the learning and development resources they need.

“Meanwhile, workers who use AI daily are more confident in their job security, more likely to trust management and more confident about their ability to learn new skills.”

Megan Green, Asset and Wealth Management and Human Capital leader, PwC Bermuda, stated: “AI can only move a business forward if it brings everyone with it. As adoption accelerates, Bermuda’s employers have an opportunity to develop their people alongside the technology. Investing in practical, accessible skills will help employees adapt, while enabling organisations to retain critical talent and translate AI investment into meaningful business outcomes.”

AI adoption continues to rise but workers face growing pressures

A spokesperson said, “Workers are feeling significant pressure. Only a third report having money left at the end of the month, down 8% year on year.

“At the same time, almost a third [29%] say they have significantly less bargaining power than three years ago, more than double the number who disagreed. For fully remote workers, the proportion is 10 points higher.

“When considering the biggest risks to job security, more workers cite economic volatility [57%] than AI taking on more tasks [44%] – with Gen Z more anxious across all these metrics.

“Three-fifths [58%] of those who have experienced change in the workplace feel there has been more change in the last year than in previous years. Almost one-third [27%] say that feeling fatigued or burned out limits their productivity.

“The vast majority of workers say they have also had to apply new skills in their job over the past year, with two-fifths [40%] saying this was to a large or very large extent.

“Change is happening faster at leadership levels. More than half [51%] of senior executives and 46% of managers say they have applied new skills in their roles, relative to 29% of non-managers and 38% of entry-level workers.

“But as workers face mounting pressure – AI adoption continues to rise with nearly two-thirds [64%] of all workers citing use of AI at work in the past 12 months – a ten-point increase relative to last year. The proportion using Gen AI daily also increased from 14% to 22%. Roughly three-fifths [59%] of workers expect their use of AI tools in their job to increase over the next 12 months. This group reports that the use of AI makes them feel energised and empowered rather than tired and powerless, by margins of around 5:1.

“Daily AI users in the workforce are also more optimistic: 68% report confidence in their job security compared to 57% for infrequent users. They are also more likely to ask for a promotion [+12 percentage points], trust top management [+15] and be confident they can learn new skills [+21].

The new workforce divide

“While workers are broadly confident [61%] that they can develop skills growth – only half [51%] cite being able to access learning and development resources [down from 59%]. To understand this further, the report segments the workforce into four groups:

• “Front-runners [14%], with scarce skills and strong AI capabilities
• “AI insurgents [18%], whose skills are less scarce but are using AI to deliver more
• “Indispensables [11%], with scarce skills that employers value highly, but who are not far along the AI learning curve
• “The Engine Room [56%] whose skills are not scarce and who are not far on the AI learning curve

“The report highlights the need for employers to pay particular attention to the ‘engine room’ group. This group is less likely to be rewarded for using AI, learning new skills or challenging existing ways of working – yet they are the majority of the workforce, responsible for most of the day-to-day work within an organisation.

“Meanwhile the ‘front-runners’ are seeing strong benefits from their position. They are most likely to overindex on being rewarded for challenging existing ways of working [1.5x global average] and learning new skills [1.2x global average]. This group is also +33 points more likely to ask for a promotion.

“In a challenge to employers seeking to retain their most valuable workers, almost a third [29%] of this group say they are very or extremely likely to change employer in the next year.”

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Category: All, technology