Uncertainty about future skills is emerging as the next workforce risk, says WTW
Key Highlights
- ➤Manager development support fell from 84% to 78% over four years
- ➤Only about 30% of organizations track workforce skills through established processes
- ➤45% of employees say AI is already important to daily work
- ➤Another 22% say AI will fundamentally change their work in future
- ➤WTW surveyed 549 employers representing 5.6 million employees globally
Expert Statements
Jill Havely, Global Employee Experience Leader at WTW
“Employees recognize that work is evolving, but many lack clarity on what skills matter most and how to prepare for what comes next. Without that visibility, uncertainty can become a barrier to confidence and growth.”
Jill Havely, Global Employee Experience Leader at WTW
“To address this, employers need to make development more tangible by equipping managers to have meaningful career conversations, creating clearer visibility into skills and career opportunities, and linking learning directly to the work employees do every day.”
Jill Havely, Global Employee Experience Leader at WTW
“Workforce transformation is more likely to succeed when employees can see a clear path to growth and organizations have the infrastructure to support it. By making skills, career pathways and development opportunities more visible and actionable, employers can reduce capability anxiety and build a workforce better equipped to adapt, grow and perform.”
NEW YORK, Oct. 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Employers face a growing workforce risk as employees struggle to understand which skills they need and how to develop them quickly enough to keep pace with changing work, according to WTW’s latest EX Intelligent report.
The proportion of employees who say their manager helps develop their abilities has shifted from 84% to 78% over the past four years, highlighting the need to give managers more support for development conversations. At the same time, only about 30% of organizations have established processes for identifying, assessing and tracking workforce skills.
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