Workplace confidence is recovering globally as workers increasingly turn to Artificial Intelligence (AI), technology, and skills development to navigate persistent uncertainty, according to the latest Work Relationship Index.
The 2026 fourth annual study found that 29 percent of knowledge workers now report a healthy relationship with work, up eight percentage points from 2025. However, 35 percent remain in the Critical Zone, showing that workplace pressures remain significant.
The recovery is taking place amid continued disruption, with 86 percent of knowledge workers reporting organisational change in the past year and 67 percent saying it feels too risky to leave their current jobs.
The study surveyed 19,506 desk-based workers across 15 countries, including knowledge workers, IT decision-makers and business leaders, providing a global benchmark for organisations in Nigeria and South Africa as they navigate workplace change and AI adoption.
Rather than waiting for stability to return, workers are increasingly using AI, transferable skills and side ventures to build resilience.
HP said the findings underscore a need to ‘help people feel equipped for change rather than overwhelmed by it’, while ensuring technology investments improve employees’ day-to-day experience of work.
The report found that 36 percent of workers globally run an income-generating side hustle or venture, rising to 48 percent among Gen Z and 47 percent among workers in emerging markets. It described these ventures as a form of career insurance as employees become more cautious about major career changes.
AI becomes a resilience tool
AI is increasingly moving from a source of disruption to a tool for workplace resilience.
The report found that 47 percent of all workers now use AI agents, while 59 percent of knowledge workers use work-provided AI tools daily or weekly, up from 46 percent in 2025.
‘AI has shifted from a source of disruption to a source of resilience,’ HP said.
AI adoption is also associated with healthier workplace relationships. Fifty-two percent of workers in the Healthy WRI Zone use AI agents, compared with 38 percent of those in the Critical Zone. Meanwhile, 15 percent of workers in the Critical Zone reported no AI use, more than twice the seven percent recorded in the Healthy Zone.
Greater AI proficiency is also linked to higher confidence. Only 52 percent of basic or novice users were confident they understood where AI ends and their own judgement begins, compared with 78 percent among proficient or expert users.
However, AI adoption has created a communication gap. While 63 percent of IT decision-makers and 64 percent of business leaders said their organisations clearly communicate how AI and new technologies may affect roles, only 44 percent of knowledge workers agreed.
Leadership remains critical
Despite the rise of AI, leadership confidence was the strongest driver of workplace health, accounting for 32 percent of the WRI. Technology enablement followed at 20 percent, workforce development at 19 percent, skills and future readiness at 16 percent, and AI confidence at 12 percent.
Fifty-four percent of knowledge workers said they trusted senior leaders to make the right decisions for employees, while 57 percent trusted them to make the right decisions for the business.
The report also found a strong relationship between workplace health and business performance. Workers at companies that performed extremely well were about six times more likely to have a healthy relationship with work than those at poorly performing companies-55 percent versus eight percent.
As AI reshapes jobs, adaptability is becoming increasingly important. Seventy-four percent of workers identified adaptability as an important workplace skill, followed by creative problem-solving and collaboration, trust and empathy at 72 percent each.
HP said ‘technology enablement is no longer a back-office issue’, but central to how organisations help employees adapt, perform and build healthier relationships with work.
For employers in Nigeria and South Africa, the findings suggest that navigating the future of work will depend not only on adopting AI, but also on building employee trust, investing in skills and ensuring workers have the technology needed to adapt to continuing change.