Why do Only a Fifth of Workers Believe Their Jobs Are Safe?

According to ADP’s annual People at Work survey, only 22% of workers strongly agree that their jobs are safe from elimination. 

The survey, which was based on data from 39,000 people globally in more than 36 markets, finds that advances in AI and economic uncertainty are leading to rising anxiety for employees – particularly for women and people whose roles are rooted in repetitive tasks. 

To combat this anxiety, Dr Nela Richardson, Chief Economist, ESG Officer and Head of ADP Research, recommends that employers keep staff at the centre of their AI strategy. 

She says: “Our findings show that investment in human capital is required to build and nurture trust, cultivate loyalty and ignite and sustain productivity. 

“By keeping employees at the centre of change, employers can deliver on the promise of an AI-powered and fully engaged workforce.”

Women in the workplace

According to the survey, confidence in job security varies significantly based on gender.

While in the Middle East and Africa, women were slightly more likely to say they feel confident in their career prospects than men (33% of respondents compared to 29%), respondents from the US told a different story – with 31% of men and just 23% of women reporting that they believed with confidence that their jobs were safe. 

This follows findings from LinkedIn’s 2026 State of Women in Leadership report, which shows that female representation in the workplace declines as careers progress. 

The number of women in leadership positions has increased by just 0.3% since 2022, stalling completely or even reversing in nearly two-thirds of the countries surveyed in the report.

Some organisations are introducing new initiatives to help increase the representation of women in leadership positions and improve job security, such as American Airlines, which has created a Women’s Leadership Programme. 

This initiative is designed to connect, develop and support both female leaders and female pilots through learning and mentoring, while also providing networking receptions to better build connections between women in the workplace.

Cole Brown, Chief People Officer of American Airlines says that the company believes that “building a culture where women and girls are represented, empowered and able to thrive as leaders is vital to the future of our industry.”

Sector-based job insecurity

The report also found that the sector employees worked in also played a significant role in how secure they feel in their roles. While 30% of knowledge workers say they feel their jobs are safe from elimination, only 18% of skilled task workers and 16% of repetitive task workers say the same. 

Those who work in finance and insurance, educational services, health care and technology were more likely to have confidence in their job security, while workers in transportation and warehousing, agriculture, manufacturing and accommodation and food service were less likely to feel confident in their job security. 

Despite this, some business leaders have suggested that AI could lead to job losses in the professional services industry – including Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI. 

In an interview with the Financial Times, he said that he thinks “we're going to have a human-level performance on most, if not all, professional tasks".

He went on to say: “White-collar work, where you're sitting down at a computer, either being a lawyer or an accountant or a project manager or a marketing person – most of those tasks will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months.”