Human Resources
Fewer People Are Changing Jobs. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Standing Still.
Immense transformation is happening inside companies.
Phil Willburn
Vice President, People Analytics, Insights, & Experiences
Workday
Every few months, the headlines about the job market seem to do a full 180: First it’s a hiring freeze, then an AI-fueled hiring boom. It’s all about AI investment, and then rising interest rates are slowing growth. But the conversation among leaders is the same; we’re talking about how to manage the immense transformation happening inside our companies.
For those of us in people leadership, the state of the AI-era workforce isn’t about hiring or promotions. It’s about the fact that everyone’s job has already changed, and almost nobody has gotten around to updating the paperwork.
Report
Within a Stable Labor Market, AI Is Rapidly Changing Jobs
Workday’s newest Global Workforce Report, The Adaptability Advantage, puts numbers behind all of the changes playing out inside our organizations and offers some opportunities for leaders to step in where their impact will be greatest.
In spite of the metrics—promotions, internal mobility, hiring demand, and headcount growth are all flat—people aren’t standing still. They might not have a new title, but they have new responsibilities and tasks, new skills and processes, and they’re already collaborating with AI. The numbers look stuck, but the sensation is more like spinning wheels in the mud, while we frantically try to draw the map to where we’re headed.
For employees in 2026, staying put might be the new moving forward.
Same Job Description, Fundamentally Different Job
For employees in 2026, staying put might be the new moving forward. Promotions were flat overall. In most industries, it was harder to get one this year. Almost six in 10 (57%) employers approved fewer lateral role changes.
While many employees pursued a new role inside or outside their company, 49% have not. Of those, 44% say they’re simply satisfied where they are. Almost a third (27%) say they just don’t see a clear opportunity.
The more employees are using AI, the more they’re anticipating the technology will change the job they already have, and they’re aware it could be either a threat or an opportunity. Among employees who use AI for almost all of their work, 76% believe AI will create new career opportunities and 62% think it will make their current skills less valuable. This mirrors our internal employee sentiment: high AI adopters are more likely to believe they have a career path at Workday.
65% of employees feel confident they can adapt to changes in skills their job requires.
Leaders’ perspectives confirm that employees’ expectation for change is well-placed: Among decision-makers we surveyed for the report, 40% expect AI to generate higher productivity and 34% expect changes to existing roles. Only 28% think AI will mean fewer employees overall.
In some ways, staying put is a win. If you can survive in your job and stay relevant, even when half your tasks have been replaced or are no longer relevant, that’s success.
And more good news: two-thirds (65%) of employees feel confident they can adapt to changes in the skills their job requires. This is a significant shift from the fear-based mentality we were seeing in organizations just a couple of years ago. Uncertainty, yes. But with it, confidence that with clarity and training, they can adapt to a new, augmented world of work.
The Skills Employers Need and What They’re Looking For
A third (34%) of company leaders say skills availability is the top force shaping workforce plans in the next 12 months. The next most common consideration as they plan for next year? AI investment, selected by 32% of leaders surveyed.
34% of company leaders say skills availability is the top force shaping workforce plans.
Those two come to life in job requisitions on Workday, where there’s a shift in the skills employers are seeking. Over the past year, demand for applied AI skills—the folks who know how to build AI—rose 51%, while demand for foundational AI—people who can use AI tools—peaked in January 2026 and has fallen steadily since.
More alarming is that mentions of management and leadership skills fell 7% and training skills fell 13% between September 2025 and July 2026. In an environment where people’s jobs are fundamentally changing and they’re demanding a clearer strategy, companies need leaders who can help employees navigate the uncertainty.
An Engagement Cloud
There’s a cloud hanging over the workplace, and it won’t be solved by simply creating a new vision, or trying to generate excitement for the future. As leaders, we can’t offer certainty when we aren’t 100% certain ourselves; employees can see right through that.
Engagement signals from Workday’s Peakon data show how much the uncertainty is weighing on employees. More than third (37%) are dissatisfied about their career path. And across all the engagement factors we measure (things like management support and recognition), a clearly communicated strategy has been the consistent laggard since 2021.
People might stay out of necessity. That doesn’t mean they’re fully committed. The more uncertainty creeps up, the less likely employees are to recommend your company, and that shows up in the data, too. Fewer employees expect to job hunt next year (about 27%). But those same employees are increasingly less likely to tell others their company is a great place to work.
Your Org Chart Hasn’t Caught Up Yet
We called this report The Adaptability Advantage because the thing that kept cropping up again and again is that the employees who are succeeding now are the ones who can navigate change. That may be why smaller organizations are showing signs of growth while the world’s biggest companies are still shedding jobs through reorg after reorg. Adaptability is a cheat code in a world that is changing fast.
Adaptability is a cheat code in a world that is changing fast.
This report is a direct call-to-action for leaders who, according to the data, know that change is here. Employees who used to tell us meaningful work was most important to them are now begging just to understand the strategy.
We’ll measure the success of our AI transformation by the vision my boss Ashley laid out in the report: “a high-performing, adaptable workforce.” To get there, we don’t need all the answers, but we do need to be direct, transparent, and articulate the next step to stay relevant and valuable. That’s how we build AI that helps humans do what they do best, even better.
Report
Within a Stable Labor Market, AI Is Rapidly Changing Jobs
Beneath a seemingly stable labor market, jobs are changing fast. In job listings, demand for basic AI skills has dropped 25% while applied AI skills are up 51%. A majority (65%) of employees are confident they can learn new skills, and those who can adapt to change are pulling ahead.