G-P's 2026 World at Work Report Reveals a Confident, but Restless, Global Workforce

91% of workers feel confident navigating technological innovation, yet 62% are actively or likely to seek a new job within six months

More than a third identify AI coworkers as the workplace trend that will have the greatest impact over the next decade

BOSTON, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- G-P (Globalization Partners), the leader in AI-driven global employment, ranked No. 1 by industry analysts, today announced the release of its 2026 World at Work Report, "Beyond Boundaries: AI, Global Talent and the Structural Evolution of Traditional Work." The findings point to a rapidly changing relationship between employers and employees as AI adoption accelerates, talent becomes increasingly borderless and cross-border compliance grows more complex.

"Employees are becoming increasingly confident in their ability to navigate change. That confidence is raising expectations of employers," said Laura Maffucci, Head of HR, G-P. "As AI becomes more integrated into work, people want organizations that pair innovation with opportunities to grow, contribute and develop distinctly human skills. Employers that understand that shift will be better positioned to attract and retain talent."

The 2026 World at Work report provides a comprehensive look at the forces reshaping global work, drawing on insights from 7,100 business leaders and professionals from across six major global markets: U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany and Singapore. 

Key findings include:

• AI values are becoming the new talent currency. More than half of employees (58%) would turn down a job offer if a company's AI values didn't align with their own. And 92% of executives agree their organization's AI strategy influences its ability to attract and retain top talent. Among employees likely to look for a new job, 73% want their next employer to embrace AI as a core part of how it operates.
• A confident workforce is also a restless one. Eight in 10 respondents (80%) are confident in their organization's ability to navigate macroeconomic conditions over the next 12 months. Executives are nearly twice as likely as employees to be very confident (49% vs. 27%). Meanwhile, 62% of employees are actively searching or likely to search for a new job in the next six months, up from 52% last year.
• Confidence in compliance masks growing complexity. Nearly all executives (93%) are confident their distributed workforce complies with local labor and tax laws. Yet 28% of employees admit to working remotely from another country or state for more than 30 consecutive days without notifying HR. At the same time, 85% of executives say cross-border HR and compliance has grown more complex over the past year, and 63% say regulatory complexity has delayed or slowed expansion into new markets.
• Side hustles are going global. More than four in 10 employees (43%) have a secondary income stream, and another 31% are considering one, despite 79% of organizations having formal policies against secondary employment.
• AI coworkers will reshape the future of work. More than a third of respondents (35%) identify AI coworkers (35%) as the workplace trend that will have the greatest impact on business over the next decade, followed by skills-based hiring (32%).
• Human skills become more valuable in AI-driven workplaces. As AI becomes more integrated into work, respondents rank critical thinking (42%), creativity (37%) and communication (35%) rank among the most valuable human skills.

Read G-P's World at Work Report here.

About G-P

G-P (Globalization Partners) is the leader in global employment, ranked No. 1 in every industry analyst report. As the world's first agentic AI-driven Global Employment Platform, G-P codes global labor laws and compliance directly into existing corporate workflows, helping companies of all sizes manage the full employee lifecycle. G-P supports teams in 180+ countries backed by more than a decade of global operational data and the largest team of in-country HR, legal, and compliance experts. This unmatched proprietary knowledge powers its Employer of Record (EOR), Contractor, and Global HR Agent, G-P Gia™, products.

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