Why employees are turning to AI for help (without telling their bosses)

No one wants to admit to using AI at work. In early May, Microsoft and LinkedIn released their joint Work Trend Index Annual Report, which revealed that 52% of those who use AI for work-related tasks are reluctant to admit to doing so. While AI is a valuable tool that can boost efficiency at work, 53% of employees worry that using it makes them seem replaceable.

Almost everyone is using AI. Using AI has doubled over the past six months, and from Baby Boomers to Gen Z, the workforce is making the most of the new tool. 73% of employees aged 58 and up were polled to be using AI tools not provided by their organization, as did 85% of surveyed employees aged 18-28. Employees aged in between these demographics polled at a rate of 77%.

Burnout may be to blame for the increasing use of AI. Of the 31k people in the labor market surveyed for this report, 68% admitted to struggling with their workloads, suggesting that the amount of work being asked of employees across the board is increasing faster than they can keep up. The report reveals that the increased meetings and after-hours work we saw as a consequence of the pandemic are still at the same level despite mandated returns to the office. This new workflow is seeing employees spend 60% of their workday in meetings or responding to emails and chats, and only 40% on fulfilling tasks.

Working smarter, not harder.Neuroscientist Michael Platt believes that these findings are an accurate reflection of how our brain balances mental functions. When we’re forced to switch back and forth between menial tasks and creative processes, we simply don’t function as effectively. Offloading routine tasks like writing emails, data entry, and scheduling onto AI gives workers the proper mental bandwidth for creativity and innovation, says Platt.

Gung-ho? Gung-No. As companies start to integrate AI at work, having it write job descriptions, marketing copy, and corporate emails, Forbes warns that we shouldn’t trust in it blindly. They recount an example of a company using an AI-generated employee handbook that missed key policies ensuring the safety of employees at the workplace, which resulted in a legal s***show. Another used AI to write a severance agreement, the wording of which sabotaged their negotiations and resulted in them paying a higher settlement.

Why isn’t AI being used on a corporate level? Companies simply don’t know what to do with it. At this point, AI being integrated into the business place is inevitable. While most company leaders agree that this is where the future is headed, they also agree that the path to regulated company-wide use instead of on an individual basis is unclear. The reliance on and lack of quantitative ROI on AI use is also slowing down decision-makers. While 79% believe that AI-use is imperative to staying competitive in the market, 59% don’t know how to quantify the productivity gains that come on the back of the technology.

Job insecurity is going up: Silicon Valley has seen more than 300k workers lose their jobs in the wake of AI in 2023 and 2024, and another 300 mn are expected to be affected. Despite this, 55% of business leaders worry about finding enough qualified employees to fill the needed roles in the year ahead, the figure rising to 60% and higher in fields like cybersecurity, engineering, and creative design. On the flip side, almost half of all workers are concerned that they will lose their jobs to AI, and are considering a career change to a more secure occupation.

AI is the employee of the year…but not for the reasons you think. Workers with technical AI talent have been hired at an increase of 323% over the past eight years, and now recruitment is looking for workers with non-technical AI skills — that is, a good understanding of how to use generative AI tools. In fact, 66% of recruiters won’t consider applicants without AI skills, with 71% of those saying they’d prefer a less experienced candidate with better AI skills than vice versa.

Executives want you to be good at using AI. But aren’t doing much about it. Almost half of all the US executives polled agree with the importance of AI, but almost half are not taking any action to invest in AI tools or products for their employees’ use. Only 39% of global employees using AI at work are doing so at the instruction of their employees or have had formal training from their company, and only a quarter of all polled companies are planning on offering genAI training in the near future.