The implementation of artificial intelligence among office workers worldwide is slowing down, a trend largely driven by workers in the United States, according to the latest Workforce Index data from Slack. Despite business leaders continuing to emphasize the urgent need for this technology, AI adoption rates among U.S. workers have stalled, growing from 32% to just 33% in the last three months, compared to an eight-point percent increase the previous year.
In addition to a lack of training from employers, the study highlights uncertainty and discomfort associated with the use of artificial intelligence, which are causing slowdowns in companies. Nearly half of workers report feeling uncomfortable admitting to their superiors that they use AI for fear of being perceived as incompetent, lazy, or even accused of fraud.
On the other hand, companies cannot afford to let the implementation of artificial intelligence reach a standstill. According to McKinsey, AI can increase company profits by $4.4 trillion a year, and Salesforce research has shown that sales teams using this technology are 1.3 times more likely to report revenue growth than those who aren’t. However, to achieve the benefits of artificial intelligence, employers need to encourage employees to use this technology and provide them with the necessary training and practical tips for effective work with this tool.
“Too much weight has been put on the employees, as they are expected to learn how to use artificial intelligence on their own. To ensure the adoption of this technology, it is important for leaders to not only train employees but also encourage them to discuss and experiment with artificial intelligence,” said Christina Janzer, SVP of Research and Analytics at Slack, a Salesforce brand. “The emergence of AI agents – with clearly defined roles and guidelines – will also help in its adoption by alleviating many workers’ anxiety about using AI at work,” she added.
Detailed survey results show that without clear guidelines, employees are confused about when the use of artificial intelligence at work is socially and professionally acceptable, leading them to hide its use. Almost half (48%) of all office workers indicated that they do not feel comfortable admitting to their boss that they have used artificial intelligence for typical tasks in the workplace. Among those who feel uncomfortable, the main reasons are the feeling that using AI is cheating, fear of being seen as less competent and fear of being perceived as lazy. Conversely, employees who feel comfortable sharing that they use artificial intelligence with their superiors are 67% more likely to use it at work.
The data reveals a discrepancy between what management wants employees to focus on and what employees anticipate focusing on thanks to the time saved by using artificial intelligence. Management wants employees to prioritize skill development and innovation, while employees expect to use the time saved thanks to artificial intelligence to catch up on backlogs in work and existing projects.
Key areas management identifies as those where employees should prioritize development due to saved time include learning and skill building, innovation, and working more on existing projects. Employees, on the other hand, intend to use the time saved by AI to complete administrative tasks, work more on existing core projects and learn and develop skills.
Despite the uncertainty associated with artificial intelligence in their current workplace, employees want to hone their skills in this area – 76% feel an urgent need to become an expert in this field. However, a total of 61% of employees have spent less than five hours learning to use artificial intelligence, and 30% report that they have received no training in this area, including not starting to learn how to use this tool or experiment with it on their own.
Employers will have to address this gap in training and provide clear guidelines on artificial intelligence, as current employees and new specialists entering the labor market will seek more supportive workplaces.
Employees who received guidelines on using artificial intelligence saw an increase of 13 percentage points since January, while employees without guidelines had an increase of only 2 percentage points.
Three out of four workers state that a potential employer’s ability to provide and enable employees to use AI tools is a factor that affects their job search.
Nearly two out of five employees say they would prefer to work for companies that provide AI tools and enable their use.
Individuals taking their first job are 1.8 times more likely to state that enabling the use of artificial intelligence is a “very important factor” in their job search.
Methodology: The survey involved 17,372 employees in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the United States and was conducted between August 2 and August 30, 2024.
The survey was conducted by Qualtrics and was not directed to employees or customers of Slack or Salesforce. The respondents were all office workers, defined as those employed full-time (30 or more hours a week) and performing one of the following roles or claiming to “work with data, analyze information or think creatively”: executive management (e.g., president/partner, CEO, CFO, C-suite), senior management (e.g., executive vice president, senior vice president), middle management (e.g., department/group manager, vice president), lower management (e.g., manager, team leader), senior employees (e.g., non-managers), skilled office workers (e.g., analysts, graphic designers).
Source: https://ceo.com.pl/salesforce-adopcja-ai-wyraznie-slabnie-pracownicy-nie-chca-byc-postrzegani-jako-niekompetentne-lenie-i-oszusci-99885
