The latest L&D news, reports, research and updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook. This week: Podcast challenge AI’s hype, workers want respect over innovation, leaders misjudge engagement, suicide prevention gets first workplace standard, HMRC’s digital nudges boost tax accuracy by millions and the L&D strategies for AI upskilling.
Agenda drop: AI, innovation, wellbeing and more at TJ60
The programme for TJ’s 60th Anniversary Conference is now live. You can now browse the full timetable, session details and speaker line-up, from Carolyn Shepherd’s opening keynote on human-led AI transformation to rapid-fire Ignite talks, plus deep-dive sessions on innovation and inclusive neurodiversity, senior-level transformation, AI and wellbeing, and more. We’ve also included a closing debate linking today’s skills agenda to TJ’s 60-year story.
Plan your day, line up the sessions you don’t want to miss, and share the agenda with your team. A limited number of tickets remain — once they’re gone, they’re gone.
Go1 survey unveils how AI adoption shapes L&D strategies
Go1, the leading content aggregator for people-first L&D leaders, unveils its research, Who owns AI upskilling? Survey insights on AI skill adoption shaping a modern L&D strategy, and its data report, Keeping Pace: Leading Learning in the Age of AI. Together, they uncover how learning and development (L&D) teams are redefining their role in helping organizations learn responsibly and effectively with AI. The white paper and report showcase the survey results from 1,000 learners and 1,000 L&D professionals across the U.S., U.K., and Australia, conducted in October 2025.
Modern L&D strategies should:
- Structure AI adoption with clear guardrails that enable autonomy and responsible experimentation
- Establish transparent communication, addressing the gap where only 45% of teams have defined AI usage expectations
- Leverage AI-driven personalization within a centralized framework to balance scale and individual learning needs
- Adopt a blended approach that unites leadership vision with learner-centric flexibility and empowerment
More than half of US workers say they paid for training their employer didn’t cover
As workers seek training to remain competitive, 55% say they have paid for it themselves, according to late October results of a University of Phoenix survey conducted by The Harris Poll. Among those workers, nearly a quarter say they have more than once paid out of pocket for training their employer didn’t cover.
At the same time, nearly three-quarters of workers surveyed said they turned down professional development opportunities, either because of cost (35%), scheduling conflicts (32%) or a lack of employer support (18%). 90% of employees said they spend time each month learning or developing new skills at work, and 18% spend more than 20 hours monthly, on average.
AI anxiety drives workers to hoard skills and knowledge to protect jobs, Adaptavist report reveals
AI’s perceived threat to jobs is triggering a culture of self-preservation and anxiety in workplaces worldwide, according to technology consultancy Adaptavist’s latest report, ‘The human cost of digital transformation.’ As companies race to adopt AI, the study showed the enormous impact it’s having on knowledge sharing and education, with more than a third of workers (35%) hoarding knowledge for fear of being replaced, and a huge 38% admitting they’re reluctant to train colleagues in areas they see as personal strengths.
AI ROI Crisis: How the adoption gap risks undermining billions in investment
Despite record AI spending, nearly half of UK office workers aren’t using it – and 77% of those who do are using AI tools that have not been sanctioned by their employer. Expectations are sky-high for ROI from AI, but new WalkMe research shows what is preventing employees from actually using the AI tools their employer gives them.
Surprisingly, almost half (42%) of employees still don’t use AI at work – citing lack of skills and training as key blockers. Women (48% don’t use AI at work) are more likely to be AI sceptics than men (37% don’t use AI at work).
Jam Pan launches first episode of “L&D Uncovered” podcast: AI in L&D – saviour or snake oil?
In this bold and thought-provoking debut episode, host Tom Pape sits down with industry leaders Lori Niles-Hofmann and Carlo Jose to unpack one of the most important questions facing learning professionals today: Will AI truly revolutionise how we learn at work – or just churn out slightly better PDFs? Expect candid insights, honest debate, and practical takeaways for leaders looking to navigate this rapidly evolving landscape.
Respect, better pay and stability, please – new research shows workers value the here and now over the future
Respect is the most important thing to employees in the workplace, according to global research. People want to be listened to, communicated with respectfully and have their ideas taken seriously. It was the top-ranked workplace factor, chosen by 36% of office workers (rising to 43% in the US and to 45% of those aged 18-24), followed by job security (31%, though up to 40% and topping the overall list in the UK) and compensation (29%).
The Work Remastered 2025 study from United Culture, a specialist in company culture, employee engagement and behavioural change, surveyed 1,500 employed adults across the UK, US and Western Europe. Intriguingly, it found that factors like a clear career path (10%) and innovation (9%) were at the bottom of employees’ priorities.
New global research finds leaders overestimate engagement, underestimate what makes people stay — putting retention, productivity, and culture at risk
Right Management, a global leader in talent and career management solutions and part of the ManpowerGroup family of brands, has released an all-new instalment in its 2025 The State of Careers series. Based on proprietary research and surveys of 1,029 leaders and 2,402 employees across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, the report exposes a striking disconnect between perception and reality — and a surprising contradiction in what drives talent decisions:
- Leaders grossly overestimate engagement: More than half (53%) of leaders globally believe their employees are fully engaged, with only 29% acknowledging any disengagement. By contrast, just 37% of employees report full engagement — and 41% are actively disengaged
- Europe and Asia-Pacific report critically low engagement: Only 32% of European employees and 33% in Asia-Pacific are fully engaged
- Leaders and employees are misaligned on what drives engagement: Employees consistently rank fit and career as top engagement drivers. Yet only 24% of leaders recognize cultural fit as important, and less than two out of 10 (19%) cite career development — revealing a significant chasm
First standard for organizations dedicated to addressing risk of suicide
Charities and mental health campaigners including Mind and Mental Health First Aid England have welcomed as “an important step forward” the publication this week of BS 30480, the UK’s first British standard dedicated to addressing the risk of suicide and its impact in the workplace.
The standard, informed by research, data, and lived experience, and published by BSI as the UK national standards body, aims to provide organizations with practical and evidence-based recommendations to help plan for, respond to, and support people affected by suicide or those with thoughts of suicide in the workplace and beyond.
HMRC brings in £27m through ‘digital nudges’ to address expense errors
HM Revenue and Customs claims that a trial of “digital nudges” reminding taxpayers of how to correctly classify their business expenses has generated an additional £27m of income. As well as its own GOV.UK service for end-of-year income tax submissions, nudges – in the form of “messages… reminding users to disallow private-use expenses and linking to relevant guidance” – were also provided to those filing returns using software platforms from accredited provided Bright.
After these messages were included for a subset of users as part of a “randomised controlled trial”, HMRC found “that users who received nudges were more likely to adjust their entries”. The HMRC forum also concluded that “continued collaboration with software developers is essential”, adding that providers of accredited tax-return platforms have an “interest in embedding business validation rules and sharing common error data to improve accuracy”.
Read more on our sister publication PublicTechnology.Net.
