New global research by enterprise software firm Workday has highlighted a growing “productivity paradox” in the use of artificial intelligence, suggesting that organisations are yet to realise the full value of AI despite widespread adoption.
According to the study titled “Beyond Productivity: Measuring the Real Value of AI,” around 85 per cent of employees said they save between one and seven hours every week by using AI tools. However, nearly 40 per cent of this saved time is being lost to rework, including correcting errors, rewriting content and verifying AI-generated outputs. The report said this has created a false sense of productivity in many organisations.
The study found that the burden of rework is unevenly distributed across age groups. Employees between the ages of 25 and 34 account for 46 per cent of those facing the highest levels of AI-related corrections. Frequent users of AI tools are also under greater pressure, with 77 per cent of daily users saying they review AI-generated work as carefully as, or more carefully than, work done by humans.
The findings point to a gap between the speed of AI adoption and the pace at which job structures and skills training are evolving. While 66 per cent of leaders identified skills training as a top priority, only 37 per cent of employees experiencing the highest rework levels reported having access to such training. The study also noted that 89 per cent of organisations have updated fewer than half of their job roles to reflect new AI capabilities.
The report said companies are currently more inclined to reinvest AI-driven time savings into technology rather than workforce development, with 39 per cent directing savings toward technology and only 30 per cent toward employee training.
Commenting on the findings, Workday President of Product and Technology Gerrit Kazmaier said many AI tools place the responsibility for trust, accuracy and reliability on individual users. He said AI systems should be designed to handle complex tasks in the background, allowing employees to focus on judgement and creativity.
The research also found that organisations seeing positive outcomes from AI treat time savings as a strategic resource. Employees in such organisations were more likely to have received skills training and to use saved time for strategic thinking rather than simply taking on additional tasks.
-ANI
