AI Is Rewriting Jobs, Not Erasing Them: What Workday's New Report Says About Where Careers Are Heading

For the past two years, the loudest question about AI and work has been "how many jobs will it cut?" A new report from Workday, based on a global survey of 6,001 employees and business leaders and hiring data from roughly 550 enterprise employers, suggests the better question is "how are jobs changing?" Its answer is in the title: AI is rewriting jobs more than it is cutting them.

Employers are betting on output, not just headcount

When Workday asked business leaders what they expect AI to do for their organizations, the most common answer was growth in productivity. Forty percent expect AI to increase the output of their existing employees, a larger share than the 28% who expect it to reduce headcount. In other words, more leaders see AI as a way to get more from their teams than as a way to shrink them.

That outlook shows up in the hiring data. Between September 2025 and July 2026, demand for advanced AI skills, meaning the ability to build tools, automate work, and engineer AI-powered systems, rose 51% in the job postings of Workday's enterprise customers. Demand for basic AI skills moved the other way, falling 25% after peaking in January 2026. The market is moving past asking whether candidates have tried a chatbot and toward asking whether they can build with the technology.

Careers are expanding in the eyes of the people closest to AI

The workers using AI the most are also the most optimistic about what it opens up. Among heavy AI users, 76% expect new career opportunities to emerge from the technology. The broader workforce is confident too: 65% say they feel confident they can learn new skills if their job requires it, and 79% say they know which skills they need to build.

The survey also shows a gap that employers can close. While 79% of workers know what skills they need, only 66% say they get support from their employer to build them. That 13-point difference is a clear opening for companies that invest in training. They can turn workers' existing confidence into the advanced AI capabilities that hiring data shows are now in demand.

"Their jobs are changing around them"

Phil Willburn, Workday's VP of People Systems, Intelligence and Support, put the central finding this way: "Employees may not be changing jobs, but their jobs are changing around them." The roles people hold are being redefined in place, with new tools, new expectations and new skills layered onto familiar titles.

That has practical consequences for anyone hiring or being hired. For job seekers, the skills that stand out are shifting toward building, automating and engineering with AI. For employers, the report suggests that growing capability inside the existing workforce is a central part of the AI story alongside external hiring. And for the AI/ML talent market in particular, a 51% rise in demand for advanced AI skills in under a year is one of the clearest signs yet that the skills behind AI development and deployment are becoming core requirements.

The takeaway

The data points to a labor market in transition, not retreat. Leaders expect AI to raise output, employers are asking for deeper AI capabilities, and the people using the technology most see new opportunities opening up. The next step for companies is making sure their people have the support to move into those opportunities, and for workers it is building skills past the basics.

Source: Workday Global Workforce Report: AI Is Rewriting Jobs More Than It's Cutting Them, Workday via PR Newswire, October 5, 2026