Fewer Than One in Four Workers Feel Secure in Their Jobs Right Now
In the U.S., the picture is modestly better, but not by much. Only 28% of American workers say they feel secure, and that figure splits significantly by gender. Men report job security at 31%, women at 23%, an eight-point gap in the same labor market. The type of work people do also shapes how safe they feel, though not always in ways that track with actual AI risk. Knowledge workers reported the highest confidence at 30%, despite being among the most exposed to AI displacement. Skilled task workers (whose hands-on work is largely AI-resistant) came in at just 18%. Repetitive task workers felt the least secure of all, at 16%. Seniority, predictably, plays a role: C-suite executives reported feeling safe at 35%, while individual contributors checked in at 18%.
What makes this data urgent for employers is what security (or the lack of it) does to workforce performance. Workers who feel secure are six times more likely to be fully engaged, 6.3 times more likely to be highly motivated, and 3.3 times more likely to describe themselves as productive. They’re also twice as likely to say they have no intention of leaving. When only 22% of your workforce feels that way globally, the math on engagement, output, and retention gets difficult fast.
Half the Global Workforce Uses AI Weekly, But Daily Users Say They Feel Less Productive
The same ADP report tracks something worth understanding carefully about AI adoption. Half of all workers globally now say they use AI tools at least multiple times a week. One in five uses AI nearly every day. In the U.S., 19% are daily users, while 23% have never tried AI at all.
The engagement and stress data around AI use look encouraging on the surface. Daily AI users are fully engaged at 30% versus just 14% for non-users. Only 11% of daily users report feeling overloaded, compared to 23% of non-adopters. But there’s a catch that gets less attention: daily AI users are also four times more likely to say they feel less productive than they could be. That’s not a contradiction; it reflects what AI is actually doing to workloads right now. The tools are creating new work around them, from prompt refinement to output validation to workflow integration, even as they accelerate the underlying tasks. The productivity gains are real but haven’t fully materialized in the numbers yet. That’s likely to change, but it hasn’t yet.
The Department of Labor Just Launched a Free AI Literacy Course You Can Take by Text
The U.S. Department of Labor announced the launch of “Make America AI-Ready,” a free AI literacy course delivered entirely over text message. To enroll, text READY to 20202. The course takes 10 minutes a day for seven days and covers five areas: understanding AI principles, exploring AI use cases, crafting effective prompts, evaluating AI outputs, and using AI responsibly. It was built through a public-private partnership between the DOL and education technology company Arist.
The text-based format is the real story here. There’s no shortage of free AI learning resources online; the AI companies themselves publish them constantly. What’s different about this one is who it can actually reach: warehouse workers, home health aides, people in rural areas without reliable broadband. People who aren’t going to sign up for an online certification or watch YouTube tutorials, but who could absolutely complete 10 minutes of text-based learning a day. With AI reshaping virtually every category of work, meeting workers where they are (literally on their phones) is the most practical approach to closing the adoption gap. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the initiative is designed to ensure every American worker has a chance to learn foundational AI skills. It’s a rare example of a government program that’s well-matched to the actual problem it’s trying to solve.
Epic Games Cuts More Than 1,000 Jobs as Fortnite Engagement Falls
Epic Games announced it is laying off more than 1,000 employees (roughly 20% of its workforce), along with over $500 million in additional cost savings from reduced contracting, marketing cuts, and closing open roles. CEO Tim Sweeney was direct in his memo to employees: a downturn in Fortnite engagement that began in 2025 means the company is spending significantly more than it’s making, and major cuts were necessary to keep it funded.
Fortnite remains the top game in America by monthly active users on PlayStation and Xbox, but average playtime has dropped sharply, from 21 monthly hours on PlayStation in February 2025 to 16 in February 2026. Sweeney specifically noted the layoffs aren’t related to AI, and he may be right in a direct sense. But there’s an indirect case worth making: rising chip prices driven by AI data center demand are creating cost pressures across the semiconductor supply chain that affect every company relying on that infrastructure. And the broader reality is that AI is enabling faster game development with fewer people, which is quietly changing the economic math of the entire industry.
It’s Epic’s second major round of cuts in three years; the company laid off around 830 employees in September 2023. The gaming sector more broadly has faced mounting layoffs over the past two years, with GDC survey data showing nearly half of game industry workers laid off in the past year were still without work. That context matters for anyone affected. This is a sector where the job market isn’t absorbing cuts quickly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
ADP’s research suggests the disconnect comes from AI uncertainty, industry-specific disruption, and a lack of employer communication about what’s changing and why. Low unemployment reflects aggregate stability; it doesn’t tell workers whether their specific role is safe. Employers who communicate transparently and invest in employee development see significantly higher rates of job security confidence.
According to ADP’s global survey, the difference is substantial. Workers who feel secure are six times more likely to be fully engaged and 6.3 times more likely to report high motivation compared to those who don’t. The productivity and retention implications are direct and measurable; this isn’t a soft metric.
It’s a free, seven-day AI literacy course delivered entirely by text message, no laptop or internet required. Text READY to 20202 to enroll. The course covers AI basics, prompt crafting, evaluating outputs, and responsible use, and takes about 10 minutes a day to complete.
A combination of factors: slowing engagement with major titles like Fortnite, weaker consumer spending on games, slower console sales, and rising development costs. AI is also beginning to reduce the number of people needed to build and maintain games. GDC data shows nearly half of gaming workers laid off in the past year are still looking for work, making it one of the toughest sectors for job seekers right now.
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ADP People at Work 2026: Why fewer than 1 in 4 workers feel secure & what employers can do about it
Welcome back to Cornering the Job Market. Today’s headlines include a new course from the Department of Labor that you can take entirely by text message. We’ll talk about what it is and I’ll tell you how to sign up. Also, more job cuts from a household name in gaming. But first, ADP Research just dropped its annual People at Work report. And the headline number is one that every employer really needs to hear. Out of more than 39,000 workers surveyed across 36 countries, only 22% strongly agreed that their job was safe from being eliminated. Think about that for a second. We have a very nervous workforce right now.
Worldwide unemployment is near historic lows, but despite that, fewer than one in four workers feel confident that they’re going to keep their job. In the US, that number is a little better, but it’s still low. 28% of American workers said they felt secure. But there’s a notable gender gap. 31% of men felt safe compared to only 23% of women. That’s an eight-point difference in the same economy with the same labor market, but very different levels of confidence depending on your gender. That’s probably worth spending more time thinking about and solving. Also, the type of work you do matters a lot. Knowledge workers were the most confident at 30%, which I found surprising given the threat by AI to knowledge work. That was really interesting to see because skilled task workers came in at 18%.
When we know that skilled work is much safer because of AI. So it seems to me that this is a workforce feeling concerned for reasons having nothing to do with AI. And also repetitive task workers, they felt the least safe. Only 16% feel safe in their jobs right now. Now they measured levels as well. Seniority plays a big role. C-suite executives felt the most secure at 35%. I wonder why. I wonder why the people who are making the decisions on who gets cut would feel the most safe. Can’t imagine. But individual contributors, only 18% felt safe. So look, that just makes sense. I would be shocked if this data showed anything other than that. Because the further you are from the decisions as they’re being made, well, the less control you have.
So yes, it’s natural to feel safe. Here’s where it gets interesting for employers. Workers who did feel secure were six times more likely to be fully engaged on the job, 6.3 times more likely to be highly motivated, and 3.3 times more likely to say that they were productive. And they were also two times more likely to say they had no intention of leaving. So those numbers are pretty alarming, too, and should be paid attention to by anyone who has employees because you’re looking at an entirely different workforce depending on whether people feel safe. And the fix that ADP points to is pretty clear. Workers who felt their employer invested in their development were 5.3 times more likely to feel secure. So transparency and investment, that’s a clear formula. Communicate. Communicate to your employees, start there and invest in them, train them.
While all these changes are going on right now with AI, that is more important than ever anyway. And seeing that it ties to their job security, which ties to their to their productivity and engagement, well, there’s every reason to do it, and certainly no reason not to. Now, they also talked about AI. Adoption has gone mainstream. Half of all workers globally said they use AI tools at least multiple times a week. One in five use it nearly every day. In the US, 19% are daily users, and 23% still haven’t tried AI at all. Daily AI users were more engaged, at 30% fully engaged compared to just 14% for the people who never use AI. They were also less stressed. Only 11% of daily AI users reported feeling overloaded versus 23% of non-adopters. That sounds great, but there is a catch.
Daily AI users are also four times more likely to say that they felt less productive than they could be. I get that. I talked about that on one of the shows earlier this week, where AI is creating a lot of work that you didn’t do before, even though it makes you more efficient and in theory more productive, but you’re doing more to get AI ready. I think that’s all gonna level out at the very near future where once all these tools really find their baseline, they’ve settled, then the productivity is really gonna kick in, but it’s not showing up yet in the numbers. So that’s where AI is on this report. There is one more thing that I wanted to point out that 62% of workers in the survey, and this is worldwide, said they put in unpaid hours every week. Most said five hours or less, but 12% reported working 16 hours or more for free. And the C-suite and upper management logged the most. Nella Richardson, who’s ADP’s chief economist, said free work comes at a cost.
People who put in unpaid hours are more likely to feel unproductive and stressed. They’re also more likely to quit. And the data backs are up. The more unpaid hours workers log, the more stress and less productive they felt, and the more likely they were to be job searching. So free labor isn’t actually free if it’s costing you your best people.
The DOL’s “Make America AI-Ready ” initiative: Text READY to 20202
Let’s get back to AI for the next story. The U.S. Department of Labor just did something really interesting and I think very beneficial. They launched a free AI literacy course that you can take entirely by text message. The program was built through a public-private partnership between the DOL and an education tech company called RIST. It covers five areas understanding AI principles, exploring AI use cases, crafting effective prompts, evaluating AI outputs, and using AI responsibly. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez de Riemer said the initiative ensures every American worker has a chance to learn foundational AI skills.
Now we know there’s a lot of free resources already. I see the AI companies themselves consistently offering free tools, and you can go on YouTube and get things. But I really love this approach from the Department of Labor. I this is one of the rare things I see coming from our government that I appreciate and that we should all appreciate. Because a text-based messaging course like this is the best way to reach workers who probably need AI literacy the most. People who work in warehouses, home health aids, people in rural areas without reliable broadband to use. So these aren’t people signing up for the online certificates that I just mentioned in the free courses. So meeting them where they are is what this is all about. And the course it looks like it’s going to take 10 minutes a day to use. What a great starting point to help out. So good job, Department of Labor. I will give credit where it’s due.
And this is one of the rare cases where I will attribute it to a federal government agency. And look, because ADP’s data, as we just talked about, is showing that the workforce, half the workforce is using these tools already, so we don’t want anyone left behind there. If you want to sign up, text the word ready to 20202, and you’ll get a seven-day course delivered to your phone. 10 minutes a day, no laptop, good to go. So that is a really cool story.
Epic Games cuts 1,000+ jobs: What Fortnite’s decline means for the gaming industry
But in the third headline today, not as good, unfortunately, some bad news, more layoffs. Epic Games announced it is cutting more than a thousand jobs. And on top of the layoffs, the company expects to save$500 million by reducing uh contracting, slashing marketing spin, and eliminating open rolls. Not good for the employees, but it’s a business decision. We continue to see these layoffs and savings and stock prices going up. That’s been the trend lately. Every time we see a cut.
The CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, sent a note to their employees that said, we’re spending significantly more than we’re making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded. Well, yeah, I mean, if you’re spending more than you’re making, you unfortunately have to make tough decisions like this. Ironically, Fortnite is still the number one game in America by monthly active players on PlayStation and Xbox, but the average play time is falling sharply, and that’s what’s causing the financial strain. Unfortunately, for Epic, it’s their second round of major layoffs in the past three years. Their CEO didn’t want to make the point that the layoffs aren’t related to AI.
He said that specifically, looks like he wanted to get that on record. In an industry where AI is certainly threatening a lot of jobs, we know that that is the case right now. And I suspect it indirectly it is tied to AI because of rising chip prices. The data centers that are being built to support AI are absorbing all the semiconductors right now at a pace that has never existed before. So there has to be an indirect tie there. And look, for anyone who is watching the job market, we know that gaming is just it’s it’s been really hard hit. And I suspect a lot of that is due to AI as well, where you can create a lot faster with a lot fewer people than you used to be able to do in the not too distant past. So anything related to software is changing rapidly. So that is it for today. Those are our headlines.
Fun fact: The optimal office temperature is 71.6 degrees
But here’s a fun fact, and this is about office temperature, the perfect one. What do you think it is? Apparently it is 71.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 22 Celsius. Statistically, according to whoever feeds me these fun facts, that is the perfect office temperature. I think that’s about right. I like it a little bit cooler, but that’s just my personal preference. So I can live with 71.6. Thank you for listening today. Please like, subscribe, share with anyone who might be interested. I would appreciate that. And I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.
