Artificial intelligence adoption is accelerating across the global workforce, but the benefits are being distributed unevenly, with a majority of workers at risk of falling behind a smaller group of AI-enabled employees, according to new research from PwC.

PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2026 found that 64% of workers have used AI at work in the past 12 months, up 10 percentage points year-on-year, while daily use of generative AI has climbed from 14% to 22%.

However, the research identified a growing divide between workers benefiting from AI, skills development and opportunities to innovate, and the majority who have significantly less access to these advantages.

PwC surveyed 49,364 workers across 48 countries and regions and 29 sectors during May and June 2026. Based on workers’ reported benefits from AI and demand for their skills, the consultancy divided respondents into four groups: “front-runners”, the “engine room”, “AI insurgents” and “the indispensables”.

Front-runners account for 14% of the workforce and combine sought-after skills with high levels of benefit from AI. More than half of this group, 51%, use generative AI every day, compared with just 11% of workers in the much larger engine room cohort.

The engine room makes up 56% of workers and represents what PwC describes as the core of organisational delivery. Despite their importance to day-to-day operations, the research found this group has more limited access to learning, innovation and meaningful AI use.

Only half of engine room workers feel confident about their job security, while just 33% trust senior management and 40% trust their immediate manager. By comparison, 85% of front-runners are highly confident about their job security, while 75% trust senior management and 82% trust their direct manager.

PwC said the findings point to a diverging workforce in which some employees are becoming increasingly well positioned to benefit from technological change while others feel excluded from it.

AI Use Rises as Access to Learning Falls

The divide comes despite a significant overall increase in AI adoption.

Almost two-thirds of workers now report having used AI in their job over the past year, while 59% expect their use of AI tools to increase during the next 12 months. Among daily GenAI users, 34% said the technology helps them perform some of the most complex and difficult parts of their jobs.

But access to training is moving in the opposite direction.

Just 51% of workers said they have access to learning and development resources, down from 59% a year ago. Fewer than 40% of the engine room cohort reported having access to these resources, compared with almost 80% of front-runners.

PwC argued that deploying AI tools without changing roles, workflows and working practices will not be enough for organisations to realise the technology’s potential.

The consultancy said companies need to redesign work around AI while ensuring employees have the skills, support and opportunity to take advantage of the technology.

The report also highlights broader pressures affecting the workforce. Only 34% of respondents said they are able to pay their bills and still have money left over at the end of the month, down eight percentage points from last year, while 62% said the cost of living has had a moderate or major impact on them at work.

Meanwhile, trust in management fell seven percentage points year-on-year, leaving fewer than half of workers globally saying they trust senior management.

Workers are also more concerned about wider economic conditions than AI directly replacing their work. Some 57% cited economic volatility as a risk to their job security, compared with 44% who pointed to AI taking over more tasks.

Recommended reading

• ‘Reasoning’ AI Emits Up to 50x More Carbon Than Simpler Models
• Is ChatGPT Making You Dumb? Possibly, MIT Says
• New Apple Paper Pours Cold Water on AI Reasoning
• Is AI Making Us Dumber? Workers Think So.

Despite the challenges, workers are continuing to acquire new capabilities. Some 88% said they had applied new skills in their job during the past year, while 64% had needed to learn new tools or technologies to at least a moderate extent.

PwC said organisations that want to capture greater value from AI will need to move beyond simply putting tools into employees’ hands, instead giving workers time to learn, changing incentives and redesigning how work is carried out.

The firm warned that organisations face challenges at both ends of the workforce divide: employees currently being left behind need greater access to skills and opportunities, while highly skilled front-runners may leave employers that fail to match their appetite for innovation and progression.

Almost a third, 29%, of front-runners said they are very or extremely likely to change employer over the next 12 months.