Dive Brief:
- Employees who view their leaders as empathetic are far more likely to experience artificial intelligence as empowering and a driver of opportunity and growth than employees in toxic cultures, who see it as a source of disruption and an added burden, Businessolver’s 2026 State of Workplace Empathy report found.
- While a survey of more than 1,000 working U.S. adults across six industries, including financial services, manufacturing and technology, revealed that empathy lifted every AI metric measured, the largest gap was seen in training, according to the August 11 report. Nearly 9 in 10 employees in empathetic workplaces said they received adequate AI training compared to 51% of employees overall and only 33% of employees in toxic cultures.
- Additionally, 83% of employees in empathetic cultures, compared to 61% of total employees, said AI makes them feel more optimistic about their future with their organization; 80% of those in empathetic cultures versus 54% of employees overall said AI gives them more agency and control over their work. By contrast, 51% of employees in toxic cultures worry they’ll fall behind on how to use AI effectively; the same percentage is concerned about how AI will affect their future with their company.
Dive Insight:
C-suite executives, including CEOs and CHROs, were also surveyed about AI and empathy, which Businessolver, a benefits and HR tech company, described in a June report as the “ability to understand and/or experience the feelings or perspective of another.”
According to the August report, nearly a third of the more than 300 C-suite execs surveyed said their organization’s primary reason for investing in AI is to save costs by reducing headcount. Yet 60% acknowledged that there is a much greater need to show empathy as their organization becomes more dependent on AI.
Still, more than 6 in 10 CEOs said it’s difficult to demonstrate empathy in their day-to-day work — up 32 points year over year, according to Businessolver.
Recent research from resume template builder Zety and human resources service firm Sigma Assessment Systems found that across industries, even in the highest scoring groups, such as those in health, medicine and HR fields, managers showed less emotional sensitivity, empathy and cooperativeness than the population average.
The Zety/SAS research suggested that managers may find a certain level of detachment helpful. But Businessolver noted in its June report that empathetic leadership can save organizations an estimated $180 billion annually in employee attrition: Employees who see their organization as “unempathetic” are 1.5 times more likely to change jobs in the next six months, the report said.
