Workers Too Afraid of AI Job Loss to Adopt AI Tools, Forrester Research Finds

Forrester's latest report reveals a paradox: companies invest heavily in AI tools, but employees are too scared of being replaced to use them. Employee AI readiness failed to progress meaningfully over the past year across the US, UK, Germany, France, and Australia.

The Paradox

• 81% of decision-makers say AI copilots are important for employees
• 68% of organizations use gen AI in production (per Forrester)
• But employee AIQ (AI Quotient) scores stagnated in 2025

Two Root Causes

1. Insufficient Training

• Only 51% of firms offer AI training to non-technical employees (up from 47% in 2024)
• Only 23% train employees in prompt engineering
• Most organizations fail to effectively train staff

2. Fear of Job Loss

• 43% of employees worried about automation job losses in next 5 years
• 25% fear their own job will be impacted
• Business leaders publicly saying they want to cut jobs with AI:

- 51% of UK leaders see AI as way to cut staff investment

- 50% say AI helps reduce headcount

- 43% expect to reduce entry-level roles

The Feedback Loop

"Some of our employees fear job loss, and it turns them away from AI altogether."

This creates a vicious cycle: Companies invest in AI → threaten layoffs → employees resist AI adoption → companies don't see ROI → push harder for AI efficiency → more layoffs.

Forrester's Solution

• Frame AI as an opportunity builder, not a job killer
• Invest in learning programs to raise AIQ
• Articulate benefits from employee perspective

Forrester may be optimistic — companies have historically asked employees to train their own replacements before laying them off.

Source: The Register, Forrester Research