What’s really on workers’ minds in 2025

These days, AI is all over the news – and crops up in every client conversation. It isn’t hard to see why, given its huge potential to boost productivity and enable employees to gain new skills. But beneath the hype, the reality is that many companies are struggling to realise the benefits AI offers.

Our latest Global Hopes & Fears Survey helps to explain why. Cutting through the noise, our research data shows that only 14% of the nearly 50,000 workers we surveyed worldwide are using GenAI on a daily basis. That’s a rise of just 2% on 2024. And little more than half (54%) have used AI at all in their jobs over the past year.

These findings chime with other research. A recent study by MIT* of AI adoption in manufacturing reveals a “productivity paradox”, with organisations adopting AI experiencing an initial drop in productivity. The researchers explain: “This decline isn’t only a matter of growing pains; it points to a deeper misalignment between new digital tools and legacy operational processes.”

Daily GenAI workers are reaping rewards…

The underlying message? Using AI as a bolt-on to existing processes and ways of working won’t deliver the value companies are seeking. Instead, they need to redesign work around it.

Do this, and the benefits start to flow. While our Hopes and Fears research finds that only a small minority of employees use AI every day, it also shows that those who do so are reaping big rewards. Compared to infrequent users of GenAI at work, daily users have seen a tangible uplift in the past year in their productivity (92% v 58%), feelings of job security (58% v 36%), and salary (52% v 32%).

These figures raise an obvious question: given such positive impacts, why is progress with scaling up AI so slow? Tellingly, the main blocker isn’t aversion to the technology among workers. Employees in general are twice as likely to be curious or excited about AI’s impact on their work as to be worried or confused by it. And compared to non-users of GenAI, daily users are far more optimistic about the future of their roles over the next 12 months (69% vs 44%).

…as piecemeal adoption holds back the benefits for companies

So workers are comfortable with GenAI. And instead of resistance by employees, organisations’ biggest barrier to realising the full productivity benefits is actually piecemeal adoption. Rather than just overlaying GenAI on existing processes and roles, leaders need to focus on embedding it into the enterprise and workforce. Which means investing in workflow redesign, upskilling, and culture change.

GenAI is a transformational development, after all. So to scale its usage and benefits, businesses need to think bigger. That means going far beyond training, by reimagining work itself and redefining the human-machine partnership. Getting these things right will enable the technology to become a true engine of growth and inclusion.

Supporting workers through testing times…

The potential for AI to play this role is underlined by other Hopes and Fears findings. These are testing times for employees: more than half the workers in our survey say they’re experiencing financial strain, and as many as one-third report feeling overwhelmed at least once a week. Trust in top management is also under pressure, with only 64% believing they understand their organisation’s goals.

Clearly, the broader context - with cost-of-living pressures, job insecurity and geopolitical uncertainties all now facts of everyday life - contributes to this sense of overload and lack of trust. But a further major factor highlighted by our research is the yawning upskilling divide in many organisations. These disparities explain why commitments from leaders to closing skills gaps are warmly welcomed by employees.

…by doubling down on upskilling

But fine words about upskilling aren’t enough on their own. These must be followed up with action. And our survey suggests this isn’t happening often enough.

While organisations are investing in upskilling programmes to deal with new and emerging technologies, their employee upskilling efforts remain uneven. Just 51% of non-managers in our survey say they have access to the learning and development resources they need (compared to 66% of managers and 72% of senior executives). This means non-managers are falling ever further behind senior executives in their growth opportunities and outlook.

Digging deeper, we find that - based on current trends - workers who are already using AI tools look likely to extend their lead over the rest of workforce. While 75% of daily users of AI feel they have the resources they need for learning and development, only 59% of infrequent users feel the same way.

Bottom line? There’s a huge opportunity for organisations to harness AI and help their people develop the skills they’ll need to thrive in a digital world - while also navigating the enterprise-wide reinvention required for future success. The size of the prize means this must now be a top priority. GenAI’s benefits for employees are not in doubt, as evidenced by the positive effects reported by daily users. Now it’s time to scale and expand these individual impacts across the whole workforce and organisation.

_{* The ‘productivity paradox’ of AI adoption in manufacturing firms MIT Management July 2025}