AI is rewriting work faster than workforce planning

 

The 2026 CHRO data from The Adecco Group suggests many organizations are operating on a different timeline than the one they've communicated to employees. AI is already reshaping jobs, skills, and workflows, yet leadership confidence in managing that transition remains far less certain. More than half of CHROs (51%) say AI has already changed the skills required for roles within their organization, but only 41% feel very confident in their AI implementation strategy. That gap between transformation already underway and leaders' readiness to guide it is one of the defining tensions facing organizations today.

Put simply, AI is moving faster than workforce planning. While jobs are evolving in real time, many organizations are still working to establish the governance, accountability, and talent strategies needed to support that change at scale. The result is a widening gap between what the workforce needs next and how prepared leaders feel to deliver it.

Key takeaways

• AI Agents are the #1 megatrend for C-suite, today and five years from now ahead of digitization, automation, and geopolitical uncertainty.
• 51% of CHROs say AI has already changed the skills required for certain roles, and 49% of C-suite agree, but 37% have adjusted their job descriptions as a result
• 44% of CHROs say AI has broadened job opportunities for workers, and 41% of C-suite agree)
• Nearly 8 in 10 CHROs (77%) say AI has not reduced workforce headcount, but 39% expect this to change within the next 12 months.
• Only 41% are very confident in their AI implementation strategy, and just 38% say leaders are held accountable for how AI decisions affect people.
• Only 36% of organizations have clearly defined which tasks should go to humans versus AI

AI has already changed work. It hasn't (yet) changed headcount.

Start with the finding most likely to surprise a boardroom: AI's impact on jobs so far looks more like redesign than replacement.

C-suite agrees the bigger workforce impact is job redesign

The Adecco Group, 2026 Business Leaders Research, Q10: Has AI impacted your organisation in the following ways?

But that stability looks somewhat uncertain. While nearly 8 in 10 CHROs say AI has not yet reduced workforce headcount, 39% expect workforce reductions within the next 12 months. At the same time, 31% are actively reducing management layers to create leaner, more agile organizations, suggesting organizations are preparing for workforce change even if they have not yet experienced its full effects.

As Joe Bast, SVP of People Operations at Crisp, notes, the challenge may be less about job loss and more about career progression. "So many of the entry-level jobs are being done by AI or automated and being run by senior people with agents that the junior person's not going to acquire the experience in the five or six or eight years they need to be the senior person because those entry-level jobs aren't there," said Bast.

His perspective highlights a central challenge facing organizations today: AI is already reshaping how work gets done, but the long-term workforce implications are still unfolding. The question is no longer whether jobs and skills will change, but how leaders will guide employees through that change while maintaining trust, performance, and organizational stability.

For many organizations, that means prioritizing workforce redeployment as job redesign unfolds. As AI automates tasks and changes skill requirements, the challenge becomes helping employees move into adjacent roles, acquire new capabilities, and access internal career opportunities before talent gaps need to be filled externally.

That makes AI governance increasingly critical. Organizations must move beyond technology deployment and establish clear accountability, decision-making frameworks, and communication strategies that ensure employees understand not only how AI is being used, but what it means for the future of their work.

Leaders are moving fast. Governance is not keeping up.

If jobs are being redesigned faster than they're being eliminated, the obvious next question is whether organizations are managing that redesign responsibly. The data suggests they're struggling to keep pace.

Business Leaders See AI Governance as a Work in Progress

The Adecco Group, 2026 Business Leaders Research, Q11: To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following statements about your company's use of AI?

The push to deploy AI is moving quickly, but the supporting infrastructure that makes transformation sustainable, including training, accountability, clear human-AI task boundaries, and workforce planning, is developing much more slowly. In many organizations, the technology rollout is outpacing the systems needed to guide employees through the change.

The result is a growing governance gap. AI is reshaping work faster than many organizations can redesign policies, career paths, internal mobility frameworks, and talent strategies around it. The organizations most likely to benefit from AI will not simply automate tasks. They will create clear pathways for employees to transition into emerging roles through redeployment, reskilling, and skills-based career mobility.

The skills that are actually growing

Over the past 12 months, digital, data, and AI-related capabilities recorded some of the largest gains across the workforce.

The Adecco Group, 2026 Business Leaders Research, Q19: How have workforce capabilities in the following areas changed over the last 12 months?

These investments are logical. As AI becomes embedded in everyday workflows, organizations need employees who can interpret data, navigate digital environments, and effectively use AI-powered tools.

But the findings also reveal an important imbalance. While technical capability is growing, workforce development is not always keeping pace with the broader demands of an AI-driven workplace. Only 24% of organizations report balancing technical and human-skills development.

That matters because technical proficiency alone is not enough. Skills such as critical thinking, judgment, adaptability, communication, and leadership are what enable employees to apply AI effectively, responsibly, and creatively. They are also the capabilities that become increasingly valuable as routine work is automated.

The emerging challenge is no longer just skill acquisition. It is career development. As AI reshapes how work gets done, organizations must ensure employees can still accumulate the experience, judgment, and institutional knowledge that have traditionally been built through early-career roles and on-the-job learning.

Taken together, the data suggests organizations are making progress in developing the skills needed to work with AI. What remains less clear is whether they are creating the pathways employees need to build careers in an AI-enabled workplace. The technology transformation is accelerating. Workforce planning is still trying to catch up.

What this means for CHROs

The real risk sits in the governance gap. Closing that gap doesn't require slowing down. It requires treating governance, accountability, human-AI task design, and workforce redeployment as part of the deployment strategy itself. The organizations that navigate AI most successfully will be those that create visible pathways for employees to move into new work and evolving skills adjacencies.

The workforce challenge is increasingly one of redeployment, not replacement. As AI reshapes tasks and skill requirements, organizations will need stronger internal mobility and reskilling strategies to move talent into emerging roles.

Frequently asked questions

Is AI actually reducing jobs, according to CHROs? Not yet, broadly. 77% of CHROs say AI has not reduced their workforce headcount, and 44% say AI has broadened job opportunities. However, 39% expect headcount impact within the next 12 months.

How confident are CHROs in their AI implementation strategy? Only 41% are very confident. Just 42% believe their leadership team has sufficient AI knowledge to understand the risks and opportunities involved.

Do most organizations have a policy governing AI use? No, nearly one-third (32%) report having no formal policy governing AI use at all, and only 36% have clearly defined which tasks should be done by humans versus AI.

Have questions about your workforce strategy?

Every organization is navigating workforce planning and talent strategy differently. Contact us to discuss how these findings compare with your own workforce challenges.

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Next in this series

Execution challenge #3 — If you can't see your workforce, you'll keep hiring for it, on the skills-visibility gap compelling organizations to hire externally for capabilities that may already exist internally.

About the research:

In the Minds of CHROs: 2026 Execution Gap is based in The Adecco Group, 2026 Business Leaders Research

2,000 C-suite executives (500 Chief Executive Officers, 500 Chief Human Resources Officers, 500 Chief Technology Officers, 250 Chief Operating Officers, 250 Chief Financial Officers)

13 countries (100 Canada, 300 US, 100 Belgium, 150 France, 150 Germany, 100 Italy, 100 Netherlands, 150 Spain, 100 Sweden, 100 Switzerland, 150 UK, 250 Australia, 250 Japan)

Industries (350 Aerospace and Defense; 350 Automotive and Transport, Logistics, Mobility and Manufacturing; 350 Healthcare, Life Sciences and Pharma; 350 Energy, Clean Technology and Utilities; 300 Technology; 300 FMCG, E-commerce, Retail and Consumer Goods and Supply Chain)