Research from The Access Group shows 41 per cent of employees fear AI’s impact on their jobs compared to just 25 per cent of HR leaders, marking a disconnect that threatens to erode trust between management and staff.
The research – conducted by YouGov, who surveyed 1,000 UK employees and 503 HR decision makers in December – depicts a dramatic perception gap, with HR leaders far more confident and less anxious about job impact than employees, who are twice as likely to name job loss as their number one AI fear (20 per cent vs. 9 per cent).
“Now is HR’s moment to lead. The anxiety around AI is real – but so is the potential,” says Hannah Walton, General Manager, Access People. “People leaders who embrace change while acknowledging concerns will be the ones who shape the future of work, not just react to it. In an ever-evolving landscape, proactive leaders are the ones turning uncertainty into competitive advantage.”
The report also paints a clear picture regarding employees’ AI training compared with its usage. Just one in five (19 per cent) of employees say they have received formal training on how to use or manage these tools responsibly. This gap is stark, given that 70 per cent of UK employees are already experimenting with AI and almost half (44 per cent) now use it in their day-to-day roles.
“Rather than asking whether AI will change their roles, employees are asking how those changes will happen, what support they’ll receive, and who will help them adapt,” adds Walton. “Workers are eager and ambitious, already experimenting with AI tools and upskilling in their spare time, in spite of a lack of company support. They’re adapting. The real question is whether businesses will lead.”
Headlines abound about mass automation-driven job losses when the reality is much more nuanced with AI reshaping jobs rather than replacing them, according to RAND’s latest research. Despite this, employees are twice as likely as HR leaders to worry about job loss, particularly in sectors such as media, marketing, construction and retail.
When asked what would make them more confident about AI in the workplace, employees prioritised transparency and oversight: 54 per cent want the right to know when AI is monitoring them, 52 per cent want human review of significant AI-driven decisions while 50 per cent want the right to challenge AI decisions.
Meanwhile, HR decision makers are looking for practical benefits for AI in the workplace: 44 per cent want to reduce time spent on routine admin, 34 per cent want faster insights from people data and 26 per cent want greater capacity for strategic planning.
“It is natural for leadership to be enamoured by the efficiency savings AI can offer,” adds Walton. “However, as workplace AI adoption accelerates, the challenge now for leaders is to close the gap between workforce reality and leadership perception. HR leaders who take employee concerns seriously have a unique opportunity to create a confident, content and driven workforce.”
Despite the anxiety disconnect, both groups agree on two fundamentals. The first is regarding human oversight. Over 70 per cent of employees and HR leaders agree that human judgement must be responsible for making final decisions on key decisions such as redundancy, disciplinary actions and hiring.
The second pertains to concerns over reliability, with AI giving incorrect or biased recommendations is the number one concern for both groups (64 per cent employees and 54 per cent HR leaders).
HR leaders using AI report clear wins in admin time savings, faster information access and more strategic capacity.
HR leaders can download the AI in HR Report: What Your People Really Think About AI to understand what employees are really thinking and learn how to support them through AI-driven change.
