Gen Z leads worker anxiety as AI reshapes daily work tasks

Four in five workers now expect artificial intelligence to affect their day-to-day tasks at work, and the youngest generation is most anxious about what that will mean for their careers, a global Randstad survey found. The Randstad Workmonitor, published on Jan. 20, 2026, highlights a widening trust gap between employees and employers as companies accelerate AI adoption.

The annual recruiter survey polled 27,000 workers and 1,225 employers and analysed more than 3 million job postings across 35 markets. Its headline finding is stark: about 80 percent of respondents anticipate AI will change how they work. That expectation is coupled with a near-even split on who will benefit; nearly half of workers believe the nascent technology will advantage corporations more than employees.

Randstad’s job-listing analysis underscored the rapid market shift toward AI skills. Vacancies requiring “AI agent” capabilities surged by 1,587 percent in the dataset the firm examined, a figure that points both to new technical roles and to employers seeking automation skills. At the same time, the report notes an observable pattern: firms are increasingly deploying AI and automation to replace low-complexity, transactional roles, a trend that disproportionately affects younger, entry-level staff.

Generational differences feature prominently in the survey. The report states that Gen Z is the most concerned generation, while Baby Boomers show greater self-assurance and are the least worried about AI’s impact and their ability to adapt. The gap in sentiment extends beyond worry: about 95 percent of employers surveyed expect growth for 2026, contrasted with just 51 percent of employees who shared that optimism. That divergence suggests a potential mismatch between corporate strategy and workforce confidence at a moment when many companies are weighing automation as a cost-management tool.

Randstad’s CEO Sander van ’t Noordende framed the tension between employee enthusiasm and skepticism. He said, "What we generally see amongst employees is that they are enthusiastic about AI ... but they may also be sceptical in the sense that companies want what companies always want: they want to save costs and increase efficiency." The comment captures why workers may welcome productivity gains yet fear that the primary corporate motive will be to cut jobs or reduce headcount.

The report arrives amid broader labor-market strains. Corporations have announced rounds of job cuts in recent months as geopolitical and economic headwinds dent demand, and some technology firms have already begun replacing roles with automation even as many companies await returns on a massive recent wave of AI investment. Those twin forces could intensify pressure on early-career workers whose responsibilities are often the most routinized.

The findings put renewed emphasis on reskilling and on corporate responsibility in deploying AI. If firms are serious about the growth they forecast, aligning investment in automation with worker training and transparent workforce planning will be critical to maintaining morale and avoiding long-term talent shortfalls. The Randstad data suggests that without such steps, the next phase of AI adoption may deepen generational divides in the workplace.