Employees turning to AI over bosses for guidance: Resume Now survey
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES — A profound shift is occurring in workplaces worldwide as employees increasingly turn to artificial intelligence over human managers for guidance and support.
A survey by career resource platform Resume Now reveals that tools like ChatGPT are being used for critical tasks, from drafting sensitive communications to providing emotional support, highlighting a significant transformation in workplace dynamics.
Managers losing ground to AI advice
The survey, conducted on June 18, 2025 among 968 U.S. workers, found that 97% of employees have sought workplace advice from AI instead of their boss, with 63% doing so regularly.
Several key factors drive this trend, which Resume Now has dubbed the “AI Boss Effect,” where people perceive technology as outperforming human leadership.
This shift highlights a significant gap in traditional managerial support. The data shows that 72% of workers believe ChatGPT provides better advice than their manager, and 49% stated the AI has been more emotionally supportive during work-related stress.
This suggests that for many, the manager-employee relationship is failing to provide the safety and clarity that workers now find in technology.
Reliance on ChatGPT for routine task execution
The utilization of AI has ceased to be a novelty and has become one of the essential means of accomplishing basic job tasks.
The survey outlines the intensive inclusion in day-to-day working processes, with a huge percentage of employees depending on it to carry out vital communication and creative duties.
This reliance is not passive; employees report a direct and significant impact on their output and efficiency.
- 93% have used it to prepare for a conversation with their boss
- 61% have sent a message to their manager written by ChatGPT
- 57% use it to write and edit emails, reports, and other tasks
- 53% use it for brainstorming and creative ideas
A massive majority of 77% of employees said that they would be more unproductive without being able to use ChatGPT, and a majority of 44% said the damage would “seriously” hurt.
Moreover, 56% stated that the tool more than doubles their output, making it an inseparable part of a modern working stream.
Distrust in managers widens trust gap
The pivot toward AI for sensitive tasks points to a deeper issue of eroded trust within some organizational structures. Workers are choosing AI because it offers a perceived safer alternative to potentially judgmental or retaliatory human interaction.
This indicates an environment where employees feel unable to be vulnerable or admit uncertainty to their leadership.
- 57% fear retaliation for asking their manager the wrong question
- 37% do not trust their manager’s judgment
- 32% feel more comfortable asking AI than a person
The comfort employees further exemplify this crisis found in AI for emotional support. It was surprising to see that a vast majority of respondents (93%) would feel free to discuss mental health or stress with an AI assistant.
The fact that almost half of them consider an AI more helpful than a human manager is an indication that there is a big gap in the empathetic role that leadership should play. Thus, this calls for a need to provide the psychological safety and competent support that employees now seek from AI.
