40% of Workers Fear Losing Their Job to AI — and That Number Is Climbing
In 2024, 28% of employees feared AI would threaten their job. In 2026, that number has risen to 40% — according to Mercer's Global Talent Trends study of 12,000 people worldwide.
12 percentage points in 2 years. This is no longer a fringe concern. It's a foundational signal about the state of workplace wellbeing.
AI anxiety: a measurable stress factor
Workplace AI anxiety isn't just an abstract fear about the future. In organizations where it's high, it translates into measurable behaviors:
- Reluctance to propose ideas (fear of being easily replaced)
- Reduced engagement on long-term projects
- Fewer initiatives and less innovation
- Increased chronic stress and absenteeism
Employers who assume "people will adapt" are underestimating the real cost of this anxiety on collective performance.
What the study says about effective responses
Organizations that handle AI anxiety better share some common characteristics:
- Transparency about how and where AI is being used in the organization
- Adaptation training — not speeches about "AI opportunities", but concrete skills
- Communication about which roles are evolving vs which are disappearing
- Experimentation culture — involving teams in AI testing rather than having it imposed on them
The adoption paradox
64% of personal trainers say they use AI in their practice. 40% of employees fear losing their jobs to it. The same phenomenon creates two opposite reactions depending on context: enthusiastic adoption where AI augments capabilities, anxiety where it's perceived as a replacement threat.
The difference often comes down to who controls the use of the tool — and who directly benefits from it.
Source: Mercer Global Talent Trends 2026