Our 2024 Hopes and Fears Survey tracked the sentiments of employees in Canada and around the world at a critical time when workplaces are undergoing significant shifts due to complex global megatrends like technological disruption.
The results from the 2,000 Canadian workers we surveyed highlight both the opportunity and the urgency to invest in and embrace upskilling, particularly when it comes to a technology that’s critical to the future of Canada’s businesses: generative artificial intelligence. How should Canadians respond? We believe three key findings from our survey illustrate the challenges and opportunities for employees and the organizations they work for.
1 Acknowledging the scale of change: Closing the gap between workers and CEOs
Our first chart compares the responses of Canadian employees and chief executive officers in separate surveys (Hopes and Fears and our latest CEO Survey) on the impacts of key drivers of change in business and society. As we can see below, the surveys show a significant gap between workers and top executives in acknowledging the reasons for change and the need to reinvent businesses to stay ahead of disruption.
Questions:
In the next three years, to what extent, if any, do you think each of the following will impact your job? (Showing Canadian employees who answered to a large/very large extent)
To what extent will the following factors drive changes in the way your company creates, delivers and captures value in the next three years? (Showing Canadian CEO Survey respondents who answered to a large/very large extent)
This disparity is concerning given the large portion of Canadian and global respondents to our CEO Survey who told us their businesses may not exist in a decade if they continue on their current path. They need their employees to be onside with the actions required to change that trajectory, and that starts with workers recognizing the challenges and their role in helping overcome them. A significant number (41%) of Canadian workers told us they don’t understand why things need to change.
2 The generative AI revolution: Canadian reluctance a risk to workers
Our second chart looks at worker adoption of generative AI. The results comparing generative AI use by Canadian and global respondents reflect a similar hesitance to embrace change.
Question:
In the past 12 months, how frequently, if at all, have you used generative AI tools for work?
The findings show just 25% of Canadian workers (versus 36% globally) say they used generative AI at least monthly at work in the last year. Half (versus 37% globally) have never used it. We saw further gaps in Canadian responses when we asked workers about why they hadn’t adopted generative AI: 28% (versus 21% globally) said they don’t think adoption work would benefit their careers, while 26% (versus 23% globally) told us they don’t know how to use it.
The risk this poses to workers becomes even clearer when we look at a separate study we conducted, our global AI Jobs Barometer, on the impacts of AI on the world of work. The study, which analyzed more than 500 million job postings in Canada and around the world, found the share of ads demanding AI-related skills almost doubled between 2012 and 2023.
Importantly, those jobs with higher AI exposure—meaning AI can perform some tasks—saw more change in the skills required. Findings like these only reinforce the need for Canadian workers, especially those in the most AI-exposed roles, to develop new skills to remain relevant in the job market.
3 Achieving what Canadians want most: The link between skills and better pay
Our third chart looks at the job characteristics Canadian employees value most. As we can see, they’re focusing squarely on pay, which is understandable given the financial pressures they’re experiencing: 41% said they have little to nothing left over each month after paying their bills.
Question:
How important is it to you that your job offers the following characteristics (Showing those who answered very/extremely important)
Financial challenges might explain why a slightly higher percentage of Canadians (25% this year versus 23% in 2023) said they’re very or extremely likely to change jobs this year given the potential to increase their pay. Overall, our survey shows that Canadian workers’ priorities have been changing from when we asked them these types of questions during the COVID-19 pandemic. While fair pay and fulfilling work ranked fairly close as employee priorities in our 2022 Hopes and Fears Survey, compensation is a much higher focus this year.
The challenge is that while workers are clearly valuing higher pay, they aren't necessarily taking the actions required to achieve that goal. Our AI Jobs Barometer found Canadian companies are paying an 11% average wage premium for job postings demanding AI skills. Despite the possibility of earning more, we’ve seen that Canadian workers are not only lagging global respondents on adopting generative AI, but they’re also more likely to say they don’t know how to use it.
A defining moment for the world of work: Three actions to unlock a better future
We believe our survey findings point to an urgent need for Canadian workers to assess what a changing world and workplace mean for them and how they can carve out a competitive advantage in an age of AI. Below are three actions to take now to unlock a better future:
Prioritizing employee experience
We believe our findings highlight the need for Canadians to more actively invest in themselves and their skills. But there’s also a critical role for employers to lead by investing in their people and helping them navigate change. A good place to start is by prioritizing the employee experience.
Properly rewarding workers by providing fair pay is key, but it’s also important to offer meaningful opportunities—and time—for employees to upskill in areas like generative AI. These are signs that employers value their people, which in turn makes employees feel more secure and motivates them to invest in themselves and contribute to the organization’s success. Giving workers the right tools and, importantly, simplifying the technologies and platforms they have to use at work, can also free up employee capacity to focus on opportunities to do their jobs better.
It’s all about workers and employers driving change together. Action is urgent on both sides given the high stakes involved for employees, businesses and, ultimately, Canada’s prosperity
Learn more
Stay tuned for further survey findings and reach out for more insights on workforce trends
Contact us
Partner, National Workforce of the Future Consulting Leader, PwC Canada
Tel: +1 416 419 9731
Practice Leader, HR Transformation Consulting, PwC Canada
Tel: +1 403 923 4332
