Motivation is the missing link in AI at work: PwC

Only 13%

of US workers have used GenAI daily at work in the last 12 months

66%

moderately or strongly agree that they have access to the learning and development resources they need at work

35%

believe AI will increase their job security in the next three years

AI isn’t just changing how work gets done. It’s reshaping how people feel about work—and putting CHROs and workforce leaders at the center of the transformation.

PwC’s latest Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey shows that employees are more energized than anxious about AI. Still, while curiosity and excitement about AI now outpace fear, motivation to fully embrace AI is leaving value on the table for many US companies. In our 29th Global CEO Survey this year, 56% of global executives told us they’ve realized neither revenue nor cost benefits from AI in the last 12 months.

In addition, frequent AI use remains low. Only 13% of US workers in our Hopes and Fears Survey have used GenAI daily in the past year. And many employees still don’t expect technology to meaningfully change their jobs.

That gap matters. Employees who actively use AI are more likely to see their work evolving and to feel engaged, capable, and ready for the future. At the same time, motivation can be critical fuel to help drive AI adoption.

This evolution comes as employees across industries are managing fatigue, financial strain, and uncertainty—all of which can quietly erode performance and culture. Our survey found that motivation rises sharply when organizations build trust, invest in skills, create psychological safety, and connect work to purpose.

This is where HR can help lead. Workforce leaders can position AI not as a cost efficiency play but as a human-centered growth engine. By shaping responsible AI adoption and modeling transparency, HR leaders can help fuel motivation and anchor AI in a workplace culture that signals belief in employees’ potential, not fear of replacement. When employees are better equipped to use AI, they’re more motivated to reinvent work—and themselves.

Our global Hopes and Fears report highlighted six actions that HR leaders can take with their teams to co-create the future of their workforce, and our US findings combined with our client experience validate those measures.

1. Acknowledge the uncertain future—particularly for entry-level workers

You can’t read a story about the US labor market or future of work without seeing warnings about the loss of entry-level jobs. To help create a foundation of trust and retain top employees, companies should be transparent with their teams about the degree of change, how much—or little—leaders know, and when they can share more.

Why it matters: Recognizing and accepting uncertainty isn’t a weakness. It can help strengthen bonds, especially with people just starting out in the workforce. Many early-career employees are navigating rapid technological change, shifting skill demands, and unclear roles. If you downplay that reality, anxiety can fill the vacuum. Discussing it openly can invite dialogue and increase credibility. By being honest about what’s known and what’s evolving, you can position uncertainty as a shared challenge to solve, not a threat to endure.

What it looks like: As part of a major technology transformation at a global fashion and lifestyle retailer, the core team leading the redesign of how the organization plans, operates, and delivers products was assessed to evaluate its transformative leadership capabilities. The assessment found gaps in how leaders anticipated change and made sense of long-term external shifts, especially AI, that are shaping the future of work. In response, the company invested in leadership development that strengthened future thinking and innovation within the team that was developing new ways of working. Leaders were better prepared to make decisions with the future in mind and to speak credibly about change with the teams across the organization.

2. Address trust gaps

Amid constant disruption and accelerating AI adoption, many companies want their workers to change faster than their confidence can keep up. Leaders need to close trust gaps through transparency, consistency, and visible care for employee well-being, because trust can turn anxiety into engagement, fuel motivation to try new things and make change sustainable.

Why it matters: Trust is an important factor when determining whether change energizes or destabilizes a workforce. As employees are being asked to adapt faster and learn continuously, they often feel vulnerable about job security. In this environment, trust in leadership can be a steadying force that sustains motivation and focus. When you are transparent, follow through on commitments, and show genuine care for your teams’ well-being, it can create psychological safety. That enables employees to speak openly and experiment with new technology instead of resisting it.

What it looks like: Following rapid growth and multiple acquisitions at a global clean energy company, trust across the organization was being eroded by segmented teams and inconsistent ways of working. The company engaged its top 100 leaders in an intensive, multi-day experience to align on a shared cultural ambition, define critical leadership behaviors, and clarify how managers would show up for one another and their teams. By practicing open dialogue, cross-functional collaboration, and collective problem solving, leaders improved consistency and established a more cohesive foundation for executing the company’s new strategy.

3. Inspire employees with a clear vision of the future

Rapid market shifts and transformation efforts can leave employees searching for signals about their company’s direction and their place going forward—if they have one. HR leaders should connect long-term vision to everyday work and career growth, replacing doubt with momentum and inspiring people to evolve together.

Why it matters: When a workforce understands where your organization is headed and believes leadership will get there, worry can give way to confidence. HR is key in translating strategy into meaning and can help close the gap between aspiration and belief. That allows employees to see themselves as active participants in shaping your organization’s future, not just passengers vulnerable to change. This is especially critical with AI disruption, which prompts several questions from employees. Will I have a job in a few years? If I don’t adopt AI, will I be out of a job? Am I accountable for AI outputs? Does having an AI copilot mean more work? Leaders should share their philosophy about what AI means for the workforce and how employees will be supported—learning and reskilling, finding new roles internally, or providing career services if jobs are impacted.

What it looks like: Amid rapid change in both business conditions and employee expectations, a global chemicals company needed a unifying direction. Workforce leaders designed and delivered an HR North Star strategy grounded in employee listening, capability mapping, and external insights. The result enabled leaders to clearly articulate the company’s mission, strategic priorities, and a three-year roadmap to employees. This outlined where the organization was headed and how HR would support business outcomes—reducing apprehension and helping employees see how their work is connected to the future.

4. Create skill pathways

As AI reshapes roles faster than job descriptions can keep up, employees are questioning whether their skills will still matter tomorrow. HR leaders should build clear skill pathways that show people how to grow with the business, as confidence in one’s capabilities can turn disruption into opportunity.

Why it matters: Confidence in capabilities is a cornerstone of an AI-driven workplace. When employees believe their skills will stay relevant and feel encouraged to build new ones, they’re more engaged and willing to embrace change. When that belief erodes, motivation can quickly follow. As a workforce leader, you can help create momentum by clearly signaling which capabilities matter, why they matter, and how employees can develop them. Go beyond theory and enable teams to apply new skills on the job. By encouraging experimentation and fostering a culture of curiosity, you can reinforce confidence and long-term workforce adaptability.

What it looks like: As a multinational financial services company moved its cloud engineering team toward a more product- and agile-based operating model, leaders faced a critical challenge: understanding whether existing skills aligned with capabilities needed for the future and how to advance the workforce without slowing delivery. In addition to a comprehensive skills assessment and targeted upskilling and recruiting, AI was used to accelerate the definition and analysis of key technical engineering skills. This provided greater clarity for leaders and engineers alike, with clear pathways to build new capabilities, stronger alignment to the new operating model, and increased confidence in the team’s ability to deliver at speed and scale.

5. Motivate to innovate—and to reinvent

If employees are afraid to take chances or challenge the status quo, organizations will be hard pressed to innovate in meaningful ways. HR leaders should normalize experimentation and open dialogue—acknowledging uncertainty and reframing failure as learning. Backing that up with dedicated time also is key.

Why it matters: In fast-changing environments shaped by shifting value pools, employees are less likely to try new approaches unless leaders openly recognize that the future is still being written. Pretending everything is settled shuts down curiosity. Highlighting challenges creates permission to explore. Frame uncertainty as a space for learning so experimentation becomes safer and more productive. By reinforcing that psychological safety is about constructive candor and learning from failure—not just comfort—you can balance accountability with openness. That helps establish culture as a strategic asset and boost motivation as a catalyst for reinvention.

What it looks like: Facing rapid disruption from AI, new competitors, and rising expectations around trust, leaders at a large professional services company recognized that existing ways of working were no longer sufficient. The organization defined a small set of critical leadership behaviors, built senior-leader ownership, and activated those behaviors through immersive development experiences and peer coaching. To ensure lasting change, the behaviors were embedded into performance management, translating strategy into everyday leadership actions and reinforcing a sustained cultural shift.

6. Treat security and pay as core motivators

When employees have to balance transformation demands with personal financial pressure, insecurity can undermine confidence. HR leaders should treat pay, job stability, and financial wellness as strategic levers because employees who feel secure are more likely to engage with AI-driven change and commit to reinvention.

Why it matters: Financial security is imperative for maintaining motivation and preventing distraction, and it’s a prerequisite for meaningful engagement with change. Unease about job stability can erode energy and trust, making it harder to mobilize your workforce—especially when it comes to transformation. Assess where you can link AI adoption to career resilience and long-term earning potential, reframing change as an opportunity rather than a threat. Strengthening financial wellness support can build trust and enable teams to engage more fully in transformation.

What it looks like: Recognizing that financial strain can undermine attention and retention, one chemicals company sought to strengthen retirement security. The company designed a new tax-efficient, market-based cash balance plan that was easy for employees to understand and trust. The enhanced retirement program improved retirement readiness, reduced financial stress, and supported retention—demonstrating that pay and security are not hygiene factors but foundational motivators. By addressing these financial concerns, the company reinforced the idea that long-term security is key to the employee value proposition, not a side benefit.

Where you go from here

Unless you confront uncertainty head-on, rebuild trust, and give your employees a credible reason to believe in the future, workforce transformation won’t go anywhere. Success hinges on acknowledging unknowns, explaining changes, and being explicit about what’s evolving and where opportunities lie. Candor creates credibility, and credibility fuels motivation.

This is an opening for HR to step forward as workforce architects. Translate strategy into meaning, connect AI adoption to real career pathways, and make skills development visible and equitable, not just theoretical. At the same time, treat psychological safety, financial security, and compensation as core enablers of performance, not peripheral concerns.

When employees feel supported, safe to experiment, and confident their work and skills still matter, they can engage differently. That helps build a culture where motivation powers reinvention.

About the survey

PwC's 2025 Global Hopes and Fears Survey drew responses from 49,843 workers across 48 countries and regions, including 4,007 employees in the United States across 28 industries. The survey was fielded from July 7 through August 18, 2025. The figures are weighted to reflect each country or region’s working population by age and gender, ensuring broad representation across major geographies.