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:

"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