(TNND) — Artificial intelligence is boosting confidence among workers to go out and find a better job, according to a new report from the University of Phoenix Career Institute.
Despite a fairly stagnant, low-hire, low-fire job market in recent months, the institute’s sixth annual Career Optimism Index, released Tuesday, found that AI makes 50% of workers more confident about pivoting to a new role.
John Woods, the provost and chief academic officer at the University of Phoenix, pointed to the stronger job growth last month and said workers with AI skills might be in a position to take advantage.
“I think there’s substance behind their optimism,” he said.
The institute’s study also found that 75% of those who are AI knowledgeable feel positive about job opportunities available to them.
The institute’s report offers a positive spin on AI’s workforce impacts amid a litany of other reports highlighting the concerns.
A Pew Research Center report last year found that worry outweighed hope over AI in the workforce, with around a third of workers expecting AI to reduce job opportunities.
Vital pathways to better-paying jobs for millions of Americans are under threat from AI, according to another report from Brookings Metro and Opportunity@Work.
And the cloud of uncertainty over AI has nearly half of college students reconsidering their majors, according to another recent report from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation.
“The easy place to go with all this is, ‘My job is going to be taken over by this thing, this non-human, this synthetic worker.’ Right? It’s a pretty easy place to go in your mind,” Woods said. “I think the folks who are upskilling are finding that they can learn these tools pretty quickly themselves, that it gives them a confidence and a belief that learning to use these tools gives them possible mobility moving forward.”
The new University of Phoenix study pulled from thousands of surveys of workers and employers.
AI is shifting power toward workers, quietly but meaningfully, because they’re taking the initiative to upskill on their own, Woods said.
The kind of AI skills needed to boost confidence and opportunities doesn’t require deep technical expertise, Woods said.
He said most workers can benefit simply by making themselves comfortable with common AI tools.
Figure out the best ways to prompt chatbots, understand how AI fits into your workflow, and know how to use AI ethically and how to protect valuable company data while doing so.
The study found that nearly half of employers, 48%, are worried they won’t be able to retain AI-fluent talent.
Meanwhile, many workers don’t think employer support for AI has kept pace with their needs. Nearly half said their employer should be doing more to incorporate AI into their work, and 60% want more guidance in learning AI.
Woods said those findings fit with an ongoing theme in their annual Career Optimism Index reports, that employer-supported professional development plays a big role in employee satisfaction.
The study found that 46% of workers see AI as broadening what they believe is possible for their career. And over half said AI helps them learn new skills faster.
Woods said workers shouldn’t view AI as just a threat, but as a valuable tool that can give them leverage in the job market.