Flat labor market metrics hide real upheaval. Workday’s CPO urges leaders to close the clarity gap by designing better roles, paths, and trust.
Ashley Goldsmith
Chief People Officer
Workday
Every year when Workday's Global Workforce Report lands in my inbox, I look for the number that will surprise me. This year, the surprise isn’t in a single number; it’s in how potentially misleading the topline numbers are.
Promotions flat. Hiring flat. Headcount flat.
If you stopped there, you might conclude it's a quiet year for the labor market.
But behind those static percentages, nearly 40% of employees reported living through a reorganization or restructuring this past year, and 34% of business leaders expect AI to change employees’ jobs. Today’s workforce is in the middle of profound, silent upheaval, despite every macro indicator staying relatively still.
The good news is employees are willing to adapt. What they’re looking for is direction, visibility, and proof that employers are investing in human capability with the same intensity that they’re investing in technology.
In order to make real progress and keep people engaged throughout AI transformation, we have to make clear where the business is going and how each person’s role fits into that path.
The data reveals a clear opportunity for HR leaders today. Let’s look past the topline numbers to understand where there is a gap, and what HR must do differently to close it.
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Leaders need to make clear where the business is going and how each employee’s role fits into that path.
There’s one data point that jumped out as a wake-up call for all of us as leaders: clear strategy communication is the only engagement driver that has flatlined since 2021, while every other driver we measure has improved.
That’s happening even though clear strategy communication is one of the three strongest predictors of whether an employee will recommend their employer as a place to work. This is an issue that’s squarely ours to fix. Luckily, it doesn’t require extra budget, just intentional leadership.
On the surface, retention looks fine: the typical employer’s two-year retention rate is 70.5%, down only slightly from 73.3% two years ago. But one layer deeper, the picture shifts:
When retention looks stable on a slide, it’s easy to think everything is fine. But it can actually mask a workforce that’s quietly holding back rather than truly leaning in. Silence on strategy doesn't feel neutral to employees—it feels like the plan doesn't include them.
You may not have every answer about the future of work with AI, but it’s important to be transparent about the direction you’re moving.
Clear strategy communication is the one engagement driver that has flatlined since 2021.
The data on internal mobility tells a clear story: lateral moves are down 57% year over year across employers.
And for the employees who are trying to make a move? Many are running into major roadblocks:
This isn't a process or structural issue; it’s about doing a better job making internal opportunities visible and accessible; and enabling and empowering managers to source from our own internal talent pools.
We’ve seen what closing that opportunity gap looks like in practice at Workday. After deploying Fetch, a HiredScore AI for Talent Mobility capability that helps match open roles to internal talent, we saw internal mobility increase 45% year over year.
22% of employees who attempted an internal move felt the selection process lacked fairness or transparency.
Every organization is pouring resources into AI technology right now. But for those investments to actually pay off, our investment in people must move at the same speed. Instead, the data suggests that employers are pulling back on the very human capabilities needed to guide that transition:
Accelerating an AI strategy isn't just a technical upgrade; it’s a culture test. Employers want AI to augment human talent, but employees will only buy into that intent if tech spending is accompanied by serious investment in upskilling.
Our data in France proves this point: among untrained workers, AI adoption sits at just 24%. But when employees receive highly effective training, adoption skyrockets to 93%, with nearly 80% using it heavily.
Tools don't transform businesses—people do. Upskilling is the core engine of adoption, and balancing tech investment with human capability is HR’s primary design challenge.
Training isn't a soft employee engagement tactic: it’s the core adoption mechanism, and pairing our tech spend with human enablement is how we prepare our workforce for the future.
Put together, the data paints a clear picture: change management in the age of AI comes down to how we enable our workforce. That means prioritizing AI upskilling, creating clear mobility paths, and communicating our strategy with transparency.
Beyond moving with speed and efficiency, we're striving to build an adaptable culture where technology takes on routine work so people can focus on what matters most. Navigating change is never about tech alone; it’s about how we enable, equip, and inspire our workforce through every transition. It’s on HR leaders to step up, close the clarity gap, and design the conditions where our people can truly thrive.
For more actionable insights, and to see how your organization stacks up against the data, dive deeper into the latest Global Workforce Report, The Adaptability Advantage.
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