83% of U.S. job seekers want formal AI training, survey finds

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — American workers are sending a clear message to their employers: stop expecting us to figure out artificial intelligence (AI) on our own. A new Express Employment Professionals–Harris Poll survey found that 83% of United States job seekers want companies to formally train employees on AI, and 86% of hiring managers agree it should be a company priority. 

According to a report from Staffing Industry Analysts, the findings found that AI use has surged to 79% of companies, with 43% reporting regular use — up from just 66% two years ago. 

For business leaders, the data exposes a widening gap between how fast AI is being deployed and how prepared the workforce is to use it.

AI is moving faster than American companies can train for it

The adoption curve has outpaced every workforce shift before it. Eighty-nine percent of hiring managers say their company’s reliance on AI tools has grown in the past year, with 87% of white-collar firms and 91% of companies with more than 500 employees now using AI. 

Sixty-two percent of employed job seekers say their company uses AI, including 22% who say it is part of their regular workflow.

Express Employment International President Bob Funk Jr. summed up the speed of the shift: “AI adoption is moving faster than most organizational change ever has.” 

That sentence reframes the boardroom conversation for U.S. executives. Companies that bought the technology without building the training plan are now running advanced tools on a workforce still learning how to use them — and the productivity gap will keep growing until that changes.

Workers want training, but companies are still figuring out how to deliver it

The appetite for upskilling is real and measurable. Seventy-five percent of workers say AI tools can help bridge skills gaps, and an equal share say they are likely to seek additional training, with 31% calling themselves very likely. 

Hiring managers recommend on-the-job training focused on working alongside AI (44%), dedicated training for skills AI cannot replace (40%) and apprenticeship programs that include AI training (38%).

Funk made the stakes plain: “Training is what determines whether AI becomes a source of real productivity or just another tool employees are left to navigate on their own.” 

For U.S. outsourcing firms, that line points to a clear opening. Companies struggling to build internal AI training programs need partners who can deliver structured upskilling, AI-integrated apprenticeships and on-the-job coaching at scale. 

Outsourcing providers that pivot toward workforce enablement — not just task delivery — will capture the contracts shaping the next decade of American work.