The numbers tell the story
AI adoption is up 13% year-over-year to 45% of workers, according to ManpowerGroup's Global Talent Barometer released January 20. Worker confidence in the technology? Down 18% - the first decline in three years.
The gap isn't subtle. While 89% of workers feel skilled for their current roles, 43% expect to lose their jobs to automation within two years (up 5% from last year). Meanwhile, 56% report receiving no training on the AI tools their employers are deploying.
"You can't have an intimidated workforce and be fully productive," said Mara Stefan, VP of global insights at ManpowerGroup. "That anxiety is going to cause real problems."
What's actually happening
Tabby Farrar, head of search at UK agency Candour, sees this daily. AI generates product imagery for clients without photos - useful. AI attempts to summarize data - team loses two hours fighting with prompts.
"There's just so many people going, 'I have lost two hours of my day trying to make this thing work,'" Farrar said.
The pattern holds across industries. EY's November report found 9 in 10 employees use AI at work, but only 28% of organizations convert that into "high-value outcomes." PwC data is harsher: 56% of firms see "nothing" from their AI investments.
The generational split
Baby Boomers saw confidence drop 35%, Gen X fell 25%. The survey covered 13,918 workers across 19 countries from September-October 2025. Job hugging - staying in roles out of fear - hit 64% of respondents, while 63% report burnout.
What works
Randall Tinfow, CEO of REACHUM, spends 20 hours weekly vetting AI tools before deployment. "There's so much noise, and I don't want our team to get distracted by that," he said. His software developers see real time savings with Claude Code. Marketing demos that promised easy wins? Those got filtered out.
The trade-off is real: innovation requires inclusion, per ManpowerGroup's Becky Frankiewicz. Ship the tools without training, and you're building resistance, not capability.
History suggests the firms that bridge this gap will pull ahead. The ones treating AI deployment as an IT project rather than a workforce transformation will keep seeing that 56% "nothing" return.