How many are properly trained on new tech?
As AI and generative AI continue to evolve and be adopted in workplaces, Canadian workers have mixed feelings about the new tech, according to a survey.
Encouragingly, two-thirds (66%) of professionals are feeling comfortable leveraging AI in their roles.
That breaks down to 40% of workers feeling somewhat confident, while just over a quarter (26%) feel very confident, finds the Robert Half survey.
However, more than 4 in 10 (41%) admit to feeling pressure to adopt AI technologies in their role.
The key factors driving this pressure include:
Staying competitive within their industry or field (52%)
Concerns about job security or relevance (47%)
Pressure from management to adopt AI tools (47%)
Peer pressure or competition within their team (34%)
Another challenge for workers? Many haven’t been properly trained on how to use the new technology, according to the survey of 1,500 Canadian professionals in December.
Almost half (44%) said they have yet to receive any training to help adapt to AI tools in their job.
Of those who have received training, only three in 10 have been given formal training, while 26% of training has been informal or self-guided.
Despite the growing investment in generative AI this year, a new report from Accenture found that a focus on the talent who will be impacted by the technology is not given as much priority.
Manulife has announced that over 75 percent of its global workforce are engaged with GenAI through learning, immersive experiences and tools, including a proprietary GenAI assistant introduced in 2024.
"AI is transformative, and it is creating efficiencies for how we work, create, and interact with one another," said Jodie Wallis, Global Chief Analytics Officer, Manulife. "By equipping our teams with GenAI tools, we're enabling them to work smarter, move faster, and make a bigger impact.”
As part of the digital transformation, the company has:
a skills-building program that empowers colleagues at all levels to understand, experiment with, and apply AI effectively.
deployed more than 35 GenAI use cases across Canada, the U.S., and Asia, with 70 more GenAI use cases prioritized to be deployed by the end of 2025
nearly 200 global data scientists and machine learning engineers, embedded across the organization to scale AI capabilities.
