AI from the employee perspective

- Unprecedented technological advancements, rapid adoption of AI in organizations, shifting market demands, and evolving skill requirements, are driving the fear of uncertainty and obsolescence among many workers. This fear shared across college and non-college educated workers, and from boomers to Zoomers. This anxiety not only hampers employee morale, but can also lead to declines in productivity, engagement, and retention. The fear of job replacement and job loss, the inability to learn or keep up with new skills and economic instability, are pulsing many of the fears that employees have. Let's take a look at some statistics. According to a recent UKG report on AI and work, 54% of employees have no idea how their company is using AI. The survey also revealed that 75% of employees would be more excited about AI if their company was more transparent about how it's being used. A recent CNBC workforce survey revealed that 42% of workers are concerned about AI's impact on their jobs, with workers of color, individual contributors, and lower salaried workers most concerned. Additionally, 60% of employees who use AI regularly, reported they worry about its impact on their jobs. While the recent PWC global Workforce Hopes and Fear Survey revealed that many employees see positive impacts from AI, nearly 20% fear that AI would require them to learn new skills that they might not have the capacity to learn. The 2023 Microsoft Work Trend Index report revealed that 49% of people say they're worried AI will replace their jobs. A Gallup report revealed 22% of workers are worried that technological advancements will make their jobs obsolete, and the fear was shared equitably between men and women. The same Gallup poll revealed that Gen Z is more fearful that AI will make their jobs obsolete than any other age group. Keep in mind that your employees are balancing news about AI and its impact on jobs and careers more frequently than ever. 300 million jobs will be replaced by generative AI, according to Goldman Sachs. As much as 40% of all working hours will be supported or augmented by AI according to Accenture. Or then more than half of employers say certain jobs or entire teams could be replaced by AI, according to Cengage. I know, that was a lot of statistics, and I did it intentionally, because the perceptions of many of your employees are probably represented in many of these statistics, so address them head on. Your employees need your understanding, empathy, transparency, and guidance more than ever. This is the first step in enabling you to cultivate an environment of trust that can alleviate employee fears, and lays the foundation for meaningful future forward career conversations, and can aid in building a resilient and future ready organization. I want to close this video with an equally important perspective. Not all of your employees will have trepidation about AI. A significant number of employees are not just ready but eager to embrace AI and its capabilities. So be sure to foster an environment that equally supports conversations about their aspirations so that your approach is balanced and relevant. In the next video, we'll provide strategies to mitigate employees fears so you can have more strategic future-focused conversations.