Four out of five workers believe artificial intelligence will change the way they do their jobs, with younger employees emerging as the most anxious about automation as companies accelerate the use of chatbots and AI tools, according to a new survey by recruitment firm Randstad.
Job listings seeking “AI agent” skills have jumped 1,587% over the past year, the firm said in its annual Workmonitor report, signalling how quickly companies are redesigning roles as automation spreads across workplaces. Randstad surveyed 27,000 workers globally and 1,225 employers and analysed more than three million job postings across 35 markets for the report.
Low-complexity roles under pressure
The survey suggests that AI and automation are already displacing low-complexity, transactional roles, even as companies continue to invest heavily in new technologies.
US President Donald Trump’s trade war and foreign policy moves have made corporates wary and unsettled business confidence.
At the same time, AI-focused technology firms have begun replacing some roles with automation, despite many companies still waiting for meaningful returns.
Enthusiasm mixed with scepticism
“What we generally see amongst employees is that they are enthusiastic about AI,” Randstad chief executive Sander van ’t Noordende told Reuters. “But they may also be sceptical in the sense that companies want what companies always want: they want to save costs and increase efficiency.”
Nearly half of the workers surveyed said they feared AI would benefit companies more than employees.
Generational differences are also stark. Gen Z respondents were the most concerned about AI’s impact on their jobs and their ability to adapt, while Baby Boomers were the least worried and more confident about navigating the transition, the report said.
Employers more optimistic than workers
The survey also highlights a widening gap between how companies and employees view the business outlook. About 95% of employers said they expect growth this year, while only 51% of workers shared that optimism, underscoring rising uncertainty among employees even as management remains upbeat.
The ghost manager
The report further added that about 50% of the employees turn to AI for work advice rather than their human managers. This pattern is the most visible in tech-heavy sectors such as IT and telecommunications, financial services and engineering, where more than three-fourths of workers rely on AI.
In India, where digital adoption is among the highest, 89% of workers say AI has improved their productivity and 86% feel confident using new tools, making the rise of the so-called ‘ghost manager’ a plausible workplace reality.
The report further added that while 87% of Indian employees report strong relationships with their managers and believe their leaders have their best interests at heart, more than half globally avoid raising concerns for fear of job insecurity.