AI widens worker confidence gap as burnout persists: ManpowerGroup
WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES — Global worker confidence has fallen for the first time in three years, driven by anxiety over keeping pace with artificial intelligence (AI), according to the ManpowerGroup Global Talent Barometer 2026, a study based on fieldwork conducted from 1 September to 1 October 2025 across 19 countries.
While job satisfaction remains steady, the report—which surveyed 13,918 workers—reveals a stark disconnect: AI adoption jumped 13%, while confidence in using that technology plummeted 18%, highlighting a critical skills and leadership challenge for employers worldwide.
AI confidence gap puts global leaders under pressure
Although almost the majority (45%) of the global population now considers AI to be used regularly in the workplace, India leads global adoption (77%).
Older workers exhibit the sharpest decline, with Baby Boomers‘ technology confidence dropping by 35% and Gen X‘s by 25%. It means that technological growth is outpacing appropriate training and support.
This loophole is creating wider uncertainty. The number of people who are afraid of losing their jobs to AI increased by 5%, with almost 43% of employees indicating that they are sure they will lose their jobs to robots after 2 years.
The statistics present a new point: it is not a technological issue but a leadership issue, and organizations also play a role in closing the gap between innovation and inclusion.
As Becky Frankiewicz, President and Chief Strategy Officer of ManpowerGroup, notes, “There’s the Now — running the business that exists today and supporting people through transformation. And there’s the Next — building skills and confidence for an AI-infused future we are all still creating.”
Workplace burnout and stress reach critical levels
Worker well-being continues to be strained globally, with high stress levels presenting a systemic challenge.
Nearly half (49%) of workers report high levels of stress on a day-to-day basis, and two out of three (63%) report experiencing burnout in the recent past.
The most frequent ones are stress (28%) and heavy workloads (24%), suggesting that existing workplace setups and requirements are unsustainable for a significant portion of the global workforce.
Stress burden is not fairly distributed, exacerbating the serious demographic inequalities. Gen Z women have the highest daily stress levels at 57%, which is almost twice the high levels of Baby Boomer men (31%).
Moreover, the well-being of frontline workers has decreased, daily stress has risen, and feelings of purpose and alignment with values have been lower.
“The data is clearly showing burnout and uncertainty remain too high. We can’t ask people to transform while neglecting their well-being,” said Frankiewicz, highlighting that it would be counterproductive and that employers should create mechanisms to enhance mental and physical health by designing ways of working.
Job-hugging trend hides growing job insecurity worldwide
The modern trend of job-hugging has led employees to stay in their jobs while silently seeking security and development in other areas.
The figures are conflicting: 64% of the workers plan to remain with their current employer, and 60% are seeking a new position. Insecurity is the motivation: 31% of people expect to lose their jobs in the near future, and the prevailing job security attitude has decreased by 10% since 2024.
This is a conservative trend that is causing employees to spread their earnings. Fifty percent (50%) of all workers have secondary income, and the vast majority of them do so by investing, working part-time, or taking up freelance jobs.
This is most prevalent among Gen Z, with 68% seeking supplemental income. The report positions this as an opportunity for employers, suggesting that a greater focus on meaningful career path discussions can tap into the workforce’s clear desire for career and income growth without requiring them to leave.
“Workers aren’t leaving; they’re staying put and waiting for us to build the bridge between what they can do now and what they’ll need to do next. When organizations create real space for both performance and learning, people deliver,” Frankiewicz explained.
Training gap, weak mentorship erode skills and retention
A significant lack of developmental support is eroding workers’ confidence and their potential to remain, as reflected in the Randstad Workmonitor 2026, which found that only 51% of employees are optimistic about growth, compared to 95% of business leaders.
As Frankiewicz notes, “It’s up to all of us to close the gap between innovation and inclusion; to make sure every person feels capable, confident, and connected to purpose in the middle of so much change.”
Fifty-six percent of employees said they have not received any training or minimal mentorship (57%). This training gap in the training process has a direct impact on confidence, as there has been neither growth nor decline in the percentage of workers trained within the past six months; it stands at 44%, despite skills needs evolving rapidly.
The impacts can be seen in industries and functions. The retention issue has become even more heated in the IT sector, where the number of employees wanting to remain in their current positions has decreased by 6% since 2025. Employers who invest in skills gap bridging, on the other hand, record positive returns.
Blue-collar workers and those onsite without choice reported the largest increases in career opportunity sentiment, rising by 8%.
The report argues that employers who translate awareness of AI skills gaps into increased training participation will be best positioned to restore confidence and capitalize on new technology.
Frankiewicz concludes, “The best leaders know they have to manage both the Now and the Next horizons together, creating room for experimentation without losing focus on execution.”
“Let’s continue to bet on both people and tech, the Now and the Next – and ensure progress is both human first and digital always.”
