- The AI reality gap - 1 in 5 workers expect zero impact on tasks while employers accelerate plans for efficiency with job vacancies requiring 'AI Agent' skills skyrocketing by 1,587% throughout 2025
- The linear career is over - 72% of employers call the corporate ladder "outdated," as talent actively diversify into "portfolio careers"
- Managers as the key to stability - with trust in senior leadership declining, 72% of workers are relying on strengthened relationships with direct managers to navigate economic uncertainty
Randstad’s latest Workmonitor research reveals a stark confidence gap in the global labor market: while 95% of employers expect to grow this year, only 51% of talent share that optimism, signaling a workforce under immense pressure under a backdrop of global volatility.
In a survey of over 27,000 workers, 1,225 employers across 35 markets, and over 3 million job postings, Randstad has found that a Great Workforce Adaptation is underway with AI powering task efficiencies rather than job displacement, an increasing trend towards "portfolio careers," and managers becoming the key to business and talent stability.
The AI reality gap
Artificial intelligence is key to the Great Workforce Adaptation, yet a critical mismatch persists. While employers are gearing up for widespread AI implementation, one in five workers (21%) believes their tasks are immune to AI efficiencies and nearly half (47%) fear AI benefits the company more than themselves.
This is a sharp contrast with the plans of employers, as throughout 2025 job postings requiring 'AI Agent' skills have skyrocketed by 1,587% and demand for 'AI Trainers' has surged 247%, confirming a future of humans teaching machines. Prompt engineering is also becoming universal: the demand for prompt engineering as a core skill across all functions has exploded by 403%.
The impact of AI also points to task augmentation - generating new efficiencies within a role - rather than job displacement. Talent are already responding: 65% recognize the need to upskill, and more than half (52%) are actively seeking opportunities to future-proof their skills independently.
From linear to portfolio careers
Talent are rethinking what a successful career looks like - with some rejecting the traditional career ladder. They’re adapting, diversifying their risk and taking control through shaping ‘portfolio careers’ or stepping away from progression altogether.
This is shown through only 41% of talent still wanting to follow a traditional path. Employers share this view, with 72% saying the linear career ladder is outdated.
Talent are also adapting the work they take on. 40% have taken a second role, while more than a third (36%) plan to increase their current hours in response to rising living costs. 38% want different types of jobs across their career.
Priorities are shifting too. While pay remains the top attractor for 81% of talent, work-life balance is what keeps them in roles - almost half (46%) cite work-life balance as the key retention factor, compared to a quarter (23%) who cite pay.
Managers as the key to stability
Trust in leadership has dipped from 77% to 72%, falling further among Gen Z to 67%. Instead, talent are turning to those closest to them. 60% look to their manager for greater reassurance amid external uncertainty. Manager-employee relationships have strengthened; 72% say they have a strong relationship with their manager, up from 64% in 2024.
Intergenerational collaboration is also one of the workforce’s most valuable assets, showing the importance of human connection in an AI-influenced workplace. Three quarters (78%) of talent say they learn soft skills from older colleagues, while 72% say they learn tech and AI skills from Gen Z and Millennials.
Sander van ‘t Noordende commented: “Labor markets are under immense pressure, and it will be those that adapt that will succeed. AI should be seen as key to augmenting tasks and highlighting the importance of roles that only people can do. Traditional career goals are changing, with talent and organizations thinking with greater flexibility about what success looks like. However, human connection remains core to organizations, with managers taking on an ever more important role in maintaining stability during the Great Workplace Adaptation. Only when businesses and talent are on the same page can true growth be unlocked.”
