Workera Report Finds Nearly 70% of Workers Use AI, but Upskilling Time Is Scarce

Nearly 70% of workers now use artificial intelligence tools in their jobs on a regular basis, according to a new report from skills-assessment company Workera. The finding, first reported by ZDNet, points to a widening gap: adoption has raced ahead while structured training lags behind, leaving many employees to figure out AI on their own. Workera's research also suggests employers and their staff disagree about how much upskilling is actually happening.

The report's central tension is not whether workers are using AI, but whether they are being given room to learn it properly. Workera surveyed employees and found that a large share receive no dedicated time during the workweek to develop AI-related skills, even as expectations around AI proficiency rise. That leaves workers experimenting with tools during billable hours or on personal time, a pattern that can produce uneven results and hidden risk for employers.

The disconnect runs both ways. Managers often assume training programs, lunch-and-learns, or access to online courses count as upskilling, while employees report those options are too generic or too removed from their day-to-day tasks. Workera's data adds to a growing body of evidence that AI adoption inside companies is outpacing formal skill development, a mismatch that shows up in everything from inaccurate outputs to stalled rollouts.

Workera is not the only organization tracking this. Consulting firms and workforce researchers have spent the past two years documenting a similar pattern: executives rank AI skills as a priority, but few have budgets or calendars set aside for sustained training. The result is a workforce that can operate AI tools at a surface level without understanding their limits, which matters as companies push AI into customer-facing and regulated work.

For employers, the practical question is whether to treat AI literacy as a formal part of the job or continue to let it develop informally. Workera's findings suggest the informal approach is already the default at many organizations, and that workers notice the absence of support. The companies that close the gap may find it easier to retain staff who otherwise feel they are being asked to keep up without help.

What to watch next is whether the numbers move. If AI usage keeps climbing while dedicated training time stays flat, the pressure will build on HR and learning teams to show measurable progress, not just tool access. Workera's full report is expected to draw attention from companies currently rewriting job descriptions and performance reviews around AI skills.