Dive Brief:
- Employers expect managers to lead a workforce that has expertise in artificial intelligence, but 43% of managers said they felt either poorly equipped to lead these employees or not equipped at all, according to a new survey from Indeed and market research company YouGov.
- In addition, the research found a disparity between how employers want the workforce to implement AI and what workers feel comfortable actually doing with the technology. “Employer expectations even run two to three times ahead of worker comfort levels for more advanced tasks,” the report said.
- Meanwhile, 52% of workers surveyed said they weren’t receiving the AI training they needed, and 25% said their concerns about AI accuracy, ethics and data privacy were the most significant reasons they weren’t upskilling in AI.
Dive Insight:
The study surveyed more than 1,000 job seekers as well as 300 hiring decision-makers, and divided AI literacy into two categories: AI native and AI fluent. Per the research, AI native individuals are skilled and comfortable with AI, and they “fundamentally default to AI” when managing their work. AI fluent people may show a mastery of the technology, but they won’t automatically default to using AI instead of “established legacy processes.”
For managers who are already leading AI-native talent, almost 9 out of 10 said they felt they were able to lead this group. Furthermore, 88% of the employers that are currently recruiting AI native talent also offer manager training.
“Organizations have spent the past two years focused on building AI-ready workforces,” an Indeed spokesperson said in an email. “The next challenge is building AI-ready leaders. As employees outpace many managers when it comes to AI skills, leadership development may become the biggest barrier to realizing AI's full potential.”
Notably, 31% of employers said AI fluency will be a required skill for almost every job within the next two years. However, fewer than 1 in 6 workers said they think of themselves as an AI native.
Right now, companies are implementing AI faster than they’re building the skills and human support needed to sustain the technology, according to Aon’s 2026 Human Capital Trends Study. The report, released in April, found that 88% of employers believe AI will require their workforce to develop new skills, but more than a third of respondents said future skills gaps were their top concern looking ahead over the next five to 10 years.
