AI transformation is being held back by workforce readiness and leaders being unprepared to drive new ways of working, according to a report by ManpowerGroup’s Talent Solutions unit and research company Everest Group.
The New Talent Equation: Activating Workforce Confidence at Scale report found that just 3% of US organisations have leaders who are highly prepared to manage AI-enabled ways of working.
At the same time, only 17% of organisations say they have advanced or transformational workforce readiness where AI is deeply embedded into workflows with a measurable impact on business outcomes.
The report suggests this AI leadership void may be a greater obstacle to transformation than tech adoption.
Caroline Pfeiffer Marinho, global business leader at Talent Solutions RPO and right management, said: “The conversation around AI has fundamentally changed. Most organisations have made significant progress deploying AI. What we’re seeing now is that technology is no longer the primary challenge. Leaders are asking how to build workforce confidence, prepare managers and help people adapt as work changes.”
AI is also making it harder to confidently hire new recruits, with 54% saying AI has reduced the ability to assess true candidate skills, while 49% say AI has increased recruiter workload and requires extra screening effort.
While AI is creating hiring uncertainty, it is also stoking tensions internally, with almost 78% of organisations reporting that employees fear job displacement and another 63% reporting workforce resistance to using AI tools after they have been deployed. The report notes that without employee trust, organisations will struggle to scale their AI investments.
However, despite those job fears, the survey findings suggest organisations are not responding to AI by cutting headcount but by redesigning work. Almost 63% said employee reskilling and redeployment is the most common outcome for workers whose jobs are significantly impacted by AI. Another 86% of respondents ranked AI upskilling and reskilling as one of their top workforce priorities over the next year and a half.
Sailesh Hota, vice president at Everest Group, said: “The first phase of Al transformation has been defined by adoption. The next phase is likely to be defined by adaptation. As Al becomes embedded across talent processes and workforce systems, the ability to redesign how work is organised may become a more important determinant of success than technology deployment alone.”
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