Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2026

In 2026, Singapore continues to be a front-runner in the AI revolution, with employees more likely to have used AI compared to their global peers and reporting that they feel energised and empowered by the increasing use of AI in the workplace.

Singapore's strong AI adoption is unsurprising given its position as a highly competitive economy and continued investments in AI upskilling. Workers are already seeing tangible benefits from AI, with many reporting improvements in work quality and creativity. However, these gains are taking place against a backdrop of rising cost pressures, evolving job requirements, and growing concern about AI's impact on jobs. As a result, many workers are navigating a period of increased uncertainty about their future at work.

AI has been a significant focus for organisations and workers alike over the past two years. The proportion of Singapore respondents who used AI in the workplace in the last 12 months rose from 69% in 2025 to 74% in 2026. Overall, Singapore workers are ahead of their global counterparts in AI adoption, reflecting the strong uptake of AI across the economy.

Singapore employees are also reporting positive impacts from AI, with 72% saying it has improved work quality, 63% saying it has enhanced creativity, and 32% responding that it helps them perform some of the most complex and difficult parts of their job.

While Singapore is ahead of the curve in both GenAI and AI agent adoption, when we look at frequent usage, it shows there are still more opportunities to capitalise on AI in the workplace. Weekly and daily GenAI usage at work among Singapore respondents rose from 41% in 2025 to 45% in 2026, with 28% reporting daily use compared to 22% globally. Daily use of AI agents was lower, at 12% in Singapore and 10% globally.

To further improve adoption, there are key barriers in the workplace that need to be addressed.

The top 5 barriers preventing more use of AI in their work revealed by the survey overall tracks with our experience working with other organisations on AI adoption:

• Organisations are seeking to implement AI in high impact processes where accuracy and quality of outputs are required (e.g. financial analysis, risk analysis, accounting processes)
• Many organisations are yet to develop a clear charter on AI usage in the organisation, driving risk management decisions of AI usage at individual or team level
• AI adoption is often based on individual initiative or specific pilots rather than embedded in formal processes and workflows
• Scaled-up adoption beyond the pilot stage is required, with necessary support system and incentives to drive upskilling and adoption

While more investment and effort are required to truly scale AI usage in the workplace, employees are ready to leverage AI further. Both for Singapore and globally, AI usage outside of the workplace has a much higher response rate compared to usage in the workplace (84% of respondents in Singapore and 79% globally use AI outside of work), suggesting that individuals may already have basic skills and comfort levels needed to use AI, which can serve as a foundation for continued upskilling and adoption of more complex AI workflows.

In line with their global peers, 58% Singapore respondents experienced more change in the last year, with 45% of the Singapore workforce agreeing they are finding it difficult to manage change (compared to 42% globally).

This is reflected in the finding that while many see AI helping them in their roles, 50% of Singapore respondents stated that AI has increased the complexity of their work and 46% stated that it has added to their workload, driving 62% of them to use more skills in their jobs.

We see respondents having to adapt to new processes and technologies while continuing to manage existing responsibilities, with the top factor limiting productivity being “feeling fatigued or burned out”, which is 9 percentage points higher in Singapore than globally.

Additionally, when asked about threats to their job security, Singapore respondents ranked AI taking over more tasks as the second biggest threat behind economic volatility, with 53% of respondents describing it is a moderate or major threat, compared to 44% globally.

Amid rising cost pressures and concerns about AI taking over more tasks, the proportion of Singapore respondents who are moderately to extremely confident in their job security over the next 12 months has declined since 2024 (84% in 2024, 69% in 2026), compared to global sentiment, which has remained relatively steady over the past three years.

While 69% of Singapore respondents are confident in their job security over the next 12 months, confidence is notably higher among daily GenAI users (75%) and lower among those who have not used AI at work in the past year (61%).

With this pressure in the background, our respondents are prioritising financial wellbeing and work-life balance over flexible work arrangements, learning, and career opportunities. Singapore workers are more likely to seek a pay rise (54% in 2026 vs. 50% in 2025) than a change in employer (38% in 2026 vs. 43% in 2025) in the next 12 months. Reflecting this, pay and benefits are the top job priority at 65%, ahead of the global average at 57%.

With Singapore respondents voicing that the pace of change continues to increase, there is a need to place greater focus on skills rather than jobs to better equip them for an increasingly volatile environment. A total of 57% of Singapore respondents noted that their responsibilities had changed, while 56% said that their team structure had changed, bringing new skill requirements into their day-to-day work.

With government support and widespread industry attention accelerating AI adoption, many companies are upskilling their workforces through external training and large-scale internal pilots. However, Singapore respondents continue to face challenges in accessing and benefiting from these initiatives.

The first challenge is understanding what future skill requirements may look like. Only 67% of Singapore respondents (vs. 70% globally) agree that they understand the skills they need for the future. The frustration and fatigue workers feel may partly stem from uncertainty around how their jobs will evolve, especially with Singapore being at the forefront of AI adoption.

Another challenge that we often observe is access to the right upskilling opportunities. Only 65% of Singapore respondents agreed that they have access to the learning and development resources they require compared to 70% globally. In our experience working with organisations, this is partly because the pace of change in job requirements is so rapid that upskilling activities become outdated very quickly.

While these challenges exist, the Singapore workforce remains keen to build new skills and adapt to the changing world, with most feeling energised (71%), empowered (74%), and confident (73%) about the increasing use of AI in their jobs.

While Singapore workers have demonstrated impressive adaptability, leading global peers in AI adoption and reporting tangible productivity gains, underlying pressures persist. Singapore's strong foundation in AI adoption presents an opportunity to become a model for human-centric transformation. By investing in meaningful upskilling and development, organisations can help turn uncertainty into confidence, ensuring that technology amplifies human capability while workers feel secure in their evolving roles.