PwC survey finds Australian workers split by AI opportunity as adoption remains uneven

Wednesday, 30 September 2026

• AI use at work rose to 59%, up from 49% in 2025, but four in ten Australian workers have not used it at work and only 18% use generative AI daily

• Workers who use AI report better-quality work, greater creativity and higher value to their employer 

• Opportunity and reward are uneven: 91% of senior executives have used AI compared with 39% of non-managers, while only 7% of non-managers say using AI well is rewarded 

• AI users are twice as likely as non-users to be considering changing employer, at 23% versus 11%

Australian workplaces risk developing into a two-speed workforce, with employees who are gaining hands-on AI experience pulling ahead of those who are missing out, according to PwC's Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2026.

The survey of 1,250 Australian workers found AI use at work has risen to 59%, up from 49% a year ago. However, adoption, opportunity and reward remain uneven across the workforce. While 91% of senior executives have used AI at work, usage falls to 39% among non-managers.

Workers using AI are already seeing the benefits, with 43% saying it improved the quality of their work, 37% reporting greater creativity and 36% claiming it has increased the value they bring to their employer.

PwC Australia workforce partner, Emma Hardy, said the findings suggest a clear gap is emerging between workers who have the opportunity to build AI skills and those who do not.

"The employees using these tools are learning new skills, finding better ways of working and building confidence in what they can do. Others simply aren't getting the same opportunities. If organisations aren't deliberate about how they roll AI out, they risk creating a two-speed workforce."

AI skills are becoming a workplace advantage

Daily generative AI users are more satisfied with their jobs, more confident about job security and more likely to seek a pay rise or promotion than Australian workers overall. AI users are also twice as likely as non-users to be considering changing employer, at 23% versus 11%. 

The findings suggest AI skills are becoming an increasingly important workplace advantage, creating both opportunities and challenges for employers.

The barrier is increasingly the work environment 

The most cited barriers to greater AI use were a lack of opportunity to use AI tools and concerns about the accuracy or quality of their outputs, both at 25%. Lack of incentives followed at 18%, while 17% said they were concerned about negative consequences if they experimented with AI in their job. 

Rewards are also uneven. Only 7% of non-managers said using AI well is rewarded, compared with 22% of senior executives. The findings point to work design, opportunity, incentives, trust and permission as important factors in the next phase of adoption. 

High motivation, but employer reciprocity needed

The AI findings sit within a broader tension in the Australian workforce. They survey found 79% are proud of their work, 75% regularly go above and beyond and 70% look forward to work. At the same time, trust in senior management fell to 41%, access to the learning and development workers say they need fell to 51%, and 31% said burnout limits productivity. 

PwC’s report says leaders should move beyond measuring AI usage and focus on where workflows have been redesigned, what time or cost has been released, what quality has improved and what that value is worth. It also recommends giving workers genuine opportunities to use AI, creating internal mobility for AI-capable workers and putting middle managers at the centre of AI-enabled work redesign. 

The full PwC Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2026: Australian insights are available here.

ENDS

Notes to editors 

About the survey: PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2026 gathered responses from 49,364 workers across 48 countries and regions and 29 sectors in May and June 2026, including 1,250 respondents in Australia. Figures are weighted proportionally to the working population’s gender and age distribution in each country or region. Read more here.