AI Training More Than Doubled This Year, but 56% of Employees Report No Time at Work to Build the Skills, Workera Research Finds

Survey of 1,000 U.S. enterprise employees finds companies investing in AI training without giving people the time, or the incentive, to build the skills

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Workera, the AI agent platform built to maximize human potential, published the 2026 State of Skills Intelligence Report. The second annual report found companies are further ahead with AI than they were in 2025 across the board, but employees still aren't empowered to become AI experts or rewarded for their progress.

The World Economic Forum projects that 59 of every 100 workers will need reskilling or upskilling by 2030, and that 11 of them will not get it. Employers are moving: 77% plan to upskill in response to AI, and Workera's data shows the spending is landing. The share of companies offering AI-specific skills training rose from 25% to 58% in a year. What has not changed is what employees need to turn that training into capability: time, materials, and a reason to bother.

"Employees are using AI more than ever, and the leaders who give them the time to build on it will see the biggest returns," said Kian Katanforoosh, CEO of Workera. "AI is not a side project. It is how companies will grow, and the ones that pull ahead will be the ones that rebuild how they work and how they develop people around it. My hope is that this report makes the next step clearer."

Workera surveyed 1,000 salaried employees at U.S. organizations with 5,000 or more employees. Findings from the 2026 State of Skills Intelligence Report include:

1. AI maturity is progressing, but transformation is still rare. Compared to 2025, companies are more likely to be on track for an AI-enabled future (67% to 80%), to feel strongly about their position compared to competitors (19% to 30%), to offer AI-specific skills training to employees (25% to 58%), and to have employees using AI tools multiple times per week (40% to 68%). But employees still don't have what they need to build the AI skills their work now requires. 
2. Employees aren't empowered to become AI experts, or rewarded for it. When asked what challenges they've faced when trying to develop AI skills, 56% mentioned no time allocated during work hours, and 43% cited a lack of relevant training materials. Strikingly, more than eight in 10 employees (84%) say they spend five hours or less per week on skill development/training. Nearly 60% of respondents say AI skills are weighted equally or not prioritized at their organization when choosing job assignments or promotions. 
3. Employees are convinced they can do their job better than AI. More than three-quarters (76.6%) of respondents said that AI couldn't do their job better than they can. When asked what portion of their job AI could do today, a similar percentage (78.1%) said 30% or less. Employees view AI as a tool to help them develop skills and increase productivity — not to replace them. 
4. Career paths are suffering due to lack of skills intelligence. Four out of 10 respondents (43%) say they've been passed over for an opportunity or promotion because someone misjudged their skills. However, employees still believe human managers are better at evaluating their skills than AI. 
5. Employees still believe in human coaching, but few benefit from it. Exactly half of respondents say they receive enough coaching to advance in their career. However, just 27% say they receive regular coaching from a manager or executive (a couple days per week or more). One in five (22%) say they never receive individual coaching. 
6. Workers will opt into continuous skill measurement… if they control the data. Real-time skills measurement could help prevent employees from being overlooked, and some employees are curious about the technology's potential. Four in 10 (41%) said they would opt into continuous measurement if they control the data, while 31% said they weren't sure. Just 28% said they wouldn't opt in. 

"Organizations have long treated professional development as an extra-role behavior, something employees do on top of the job rather than as part of it," said Taylor Sullivan, PhD, VP of Product and Assessment at Workera. "That's why it's the first thing to go when time gets tight, and it's why 56% of employees get no hours to build AI skills. The fix belongs to the employer. Make development part of the role, resource it, reward it, and hold managers accountable for it."

Research Methodology

Workera surveyed 1,000 full-time, salaried professionals who work for an organization with 5,000 or more employees in the United States. The survey was conducted in July 2026 using Pollfish. Year-over-year measurements were obtained by comparing July 2026 results with a similar survey conducted using Pollfish in March 2025, in which Workera surveyed 800 full-time, salaried professionals who work for an organization with 5,000 or more employees in the United States.

The 2026 State of Skills Intelligence Report is available today.

About Workera
Workera is the AI agent platform built to maximize human potential. Workera reads capabilities from the tools people already work in, verifies them continuously, and does so at scale. Our four purpose-built AI agents handle every talent decision: who to hire, who's ready to move, where the gaps are, and how to close them. The newest, Ambient Coaching, surfaces skills intelligence in the flow of work. Trusted by the Fortune 100, Workera has been recognized by TIME's Best EdTech Companies and World's Top HRTech Companies in 2025 & 2026; the World Economic Forum's Tech Pioneers; and Inc.'s 2025 Fastest Growing Companies. In 2024, Workera was named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies alongside Microsoft, Canva, and others leading the AI revolution. Learn more at workera.ai.

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SOURCE Workera