AI is actually increasing our workload

Hello, September!
Hopefully you weren’t thinking you would be able to cruise through September like in the summer months because artificial intelligence will provide a major assist.
As companies rapidly adopt AI tools, there’s a growing tension between the productivity gains promised by AI and the increasing burden on employees.
One study from the freelancing platform Upwork shows that while the majority of C-suite leaders in Canada, the U.S., U.K. and Australia believe AI will increase company productivity, 77 per cent of employees say that the new tools have actually added to their workload.
Employees report:
The productivity strain
The same report shows employees are feeling the burden of the increased productivity demands. In fact, 71 per cent of full-time employees reported being burned out, and an alarming one in three employees say they are likely to quit their jobs in the next six months because of burnout.
This may not come as a total surprise to their leaders — 81 per cent of the C-suite acknowledges that they have upped the demand on employees in the past year.
Because AI is creating more of a burden, one might think employees would stop using it in certain cases. However, 39 per cent of companies are mandating the use of certain tools, while 46 per cent only encourage use.
This puts employees in a tough position; especially because nearly half who use AI (47 per cent) can’t see a clear path to achieving the productivity that their employers are expecting, and 40 per cent feel that their company is asking for too much when it comes to AI.
AI job outlook
Those who do hone their AI skills may be in high demand.
A report from outsourcing solutions company Flatworld Solutions analyzed 15,000 AI-related job openings across the United States. It shows that 45 per cent of the job openings were for mid-level positions and 24 per cent were for senior-level workers.
The jobs pay well, with nearly 70 per cent of the openings offering a salary of at least US$100,000. However, despite the fact that AI is seen as high-tech, an overwhelming 78 per cent of the available jobs were in-person. Only 8 per cent were fully remote positions.
1 in 4
A quarter of Canadians say their financial situation has gotten worse over the past year, according to a new report. The kicker? The stress of financial woes is affecting their mental health, but they can’t afford to access professional mental health care.
Read more
If you’ve ever worked remotely from paradise — or even outside of your home province or country — without telling your employer, there may be real consequences even if you’re getting your work done. Alyssa Dawn Faller, founder and vice-president of people experience at Fractional HR Experts, explains that you may not actually be legally able to work in other locations. Additionally, your employer may be at risk if you aren’t keeping data secure or get injured on the job while you’re not in your home province. Ultimately, she says companies need to have clear policies around remote and hybrid work and create a culture of trust.
Read more
“The danger is that if people feel bad, they start behaving badly. They begin to pull back, hiring less, spending less and that can make the economy worse. And another fallout of misread vibes could be electoral outcomes, something we’ve been thinking about this week in the States obviously,” says Katrina Onstad, executive producer of The Globe and Mail podcast Lately.
In this episode, The Globe looks at the disconnect between objective economic indicators and people’s subjective feelings about the economy.
Listen
The climate is changing and our jobs are too. While Canada is already moving toward net-zero and away from industries that produce high GHG emissions, Globe contributor Linda Nazareth explores what ‘green skills’ workers might need in the future to transition between industries and help curb the environmental challenges ahead.
Read more