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It’s not just workers in the US — people around the world feel anxious about their job security.
Just 28% of US workers strongly agreed their position was safe from being cut in ADP’s global survey of 39,000 people in 36 markets, conducted last summer and published Wednesday. That makes workers in the world’s largest economy less confident than respondents in developing markets like Egypt and Nigeria, where 32% and 38%, respectively, believed their jobs were secure.
Still, workers in Japan and South Korea felt even worse: just 5% and 9%, respectively, felt their positions were safe from being axed. And in no nation did a majority of workers have confidence in their job security.
That was long before the US-Israel war roiled global markets, sent oil prices soaring, and shortened workweeks in parts of the world.
Overall, “among our Global Workforce Survey respondents, just 22 percent strongly agreed that their job was safe from elimination,” ADP said in its report. “Anxiety over job security was particularly acute among lower-paid repetitive task workers and people at the bottom of the employer hierarchy.”
Those positions may be especially vulnerable to AI. Globally, “knowledge workers” in sectors like finance and healthcare were more likely to report their jobs were secure, ADP said. C-suite executives and upper managers were also more likely to say they felt their positions were safe.
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Men felt more secure than women: 31% of men in the US believed their positions were safe from elimination, compared to 23% of women.
Such widespread job insecurity has consequences, even as layoffs in the US remain relatively low. Workers who fear losing their jobs are less engaged at work and less productive, according to ADP. Because workers feel so unstable, employers should be clear with staff when positions are safe, ADP said.
“Our research has established that workers hit a sweet spot of productivity and retention when they’re engaged, highly motivated, committed, and not overwhelmed by stress,” ADP said.
Workers around the world also largely reported feeling unsupported by their employers and lacking the skills to advance — especially if they were older — while feeling poorly about their personal financial health.
But even those who were leveling up with in-demand skills — workers who used AI daily — were four times more likely than non-AI users to say they weren’t as productive as they could be.