That's according to PwC's 2026 Global Workforce Hopes and Fears report. A survey of nearly 50,000 workers across 48 countries that classifies workers into four groups: front-runners, AI insurgents, indispensables, and the AI learning curve.
Front-runners, with scarce skills and strong AI abilities, account for 14% of employees, while 18% are classified as AI insurgents, whose skills are less scarce but who are using AI to deliver more.
Indispensables, with scarce skills that employers value highly but who are not far along the AI learning curve, account for 11%.
However, PwC said it's the 'engine room' workers who make up the bulk of employees, lacking scarce skills, and further behind on the AI learning curve. Of these, only two in five say they have access to the learning and development resources they need.
And, the researchers said, it's these workers – the majority of the workforce, responsible for most of the day-to-day work within an organization – that should be getting more attention.
"There is a real risk that the global workforce is starting to move at different speeds. More than half of workers are not yet benefiting from AI and skills in the same way, while those with scarce skills and strong AI capabilities are becoming more confident and more mobile," said Pete Brown, PwC global workforce leader.
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"Leaders need to think hard about where they invest in skills, how they give people the opportunity to adapt, and how they hold on to the capabilities they most need."
As for the front-runner employees, they're more confident in their job security, more likely to trust management, and more confident about their ability to learn new skills.
They are one-and-a-half times more likely than average to be rewarded for challenging existing ways of working, and 1.2 times as likely as average to learn new skills.
Nearly seven-in-ten daily AI users report confidence in their job security, compared with 57% for infrequent users, and are also more likely to ask for a promotion. However, 29% of front-runner employees with strong AI capabilities and scarce skills say they are very or extremely likely to change employers in the next year.
Overall, workers are feeling significant pressure. Only a third report having money left at the end of the month, down 8% year on year. Meanwhile, 29% say they have significantly less bargaining power than three years ago, more than double the number who disagreed. For fully remote workers, the proportion is 10 points higher.
The biggest risks to job security, they say, are economic volatility (57%) and AI taking on more tasks (44%), with Gen Z more anxious across all these metrics.
And 58% of those who have experienced change in the workplace feel there has been more change in the last year than in previous years, with almost one-third saying that their productivity is suffering thanks to fatigue or burnout.
"Workers are under growing pressure from rising workloads, rapid change and external uncertainty," said Brown.
"But those using AI every day are more confident, more ambitious and more positive about their careers and prospects. The challenge for leaders is to keep developing those people – but not at the expense of the rest of the workforce."