The latest L&D news, reports, research and updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook. This week: Shadow AI rises in UK firms, raising compliance alarms. L&D research explains why staff ignore training. New motivation theory tackles inequality. Boomers vanish from hiring. Resilience in schools, HR audits, gamer air-traffic recruitment.
State of AI Jobs and Skills Report 2026: The training gap slowing down the AI revolution
AI tools have reached nearly every employee, but the skills to use them well haven’t.
- 9 in 10 employees use AI at least sometimes, making adoption effectively universal
- Only 1 in 6 feels fully prepared to use it well
- 35% of employees have received no AI training of any kind. But of those who did receive training, only 18% say it prepared them to work independently
Enterprises lose 51 workdays per employee to technology friction
Enterprise AI investment is at record levels, but employees are walking away from the tools. WalkMe’s fifth annual State of Digital Adoption report reveals that over half (54%) of workers bypassed AI tools and completed tasks manually at least once in the past 30 days. A further 33% haven’t used AI at all. Rather than friction, the research describes outright rejection.
The global survey of 3,750 executives and employees across 14 countries at enterprises with 1,000 or more employees found a systemic disconnect: executives and their employees are describing fundamentally different companies.
- Only 9% of workers trust AI for complex, business-critical decisions, compared to 61% of executives – a 52-point trust chasm.
- 88% of executives are confident employees have adequate tools; only 21% of workers agree – a 67-point gap on tool adequacy.
- 81% of executives believe they have significantly improved productivity through AI, while workers waste 7.9 hours per week dealing with digital frustrations – the equivalent of losing one full working day, every week.
Students’ self-belief and academic skills influence each other
A large study of over 9,000 students found that actual academic skills quickly shape how competent students feel, while students’ belief in their own ability more slowly, but genuinely, improves their skills over time. The findings suggest boosting student confidence really does matter for long-term learning.
The employee engagement slump continues
The State of the Global Workplace report features annual findings from the world’s largest ongoing study of the employee experience. The 2026 edition finds that global employee engagement fell to 20% in 2025, its lowest level since 2020, costing the world economy an estimated $10 trillion in lost productivity.
The full report explores what’s driving the decline and to review global, regional and country-level trends on engagement, wellbeing, daily emotions, the global job climate and other key workplace statistics across 140+ countries and territories.
Rise of ‘Shadow AI’ sparks security and compliance concerns among UK businesses
Two thirds of business leaders in the UK are worried about potential data security and compliance risks stemming from employees’ unregulated use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, according to new research from Studio Graphene.
The digital product studio commissioned Censuswide to survey 500 managers, directors and C-suite executives within UK businesses. It found that almost half (48%) know or suspect that employees in their organisation are using AI tools that have not been officially approved – this rises to 54% for larger companies (over 250 employees).
A guide for L&D teams: Why employees ignore training and what to do about it
Most L&D teams have been there: a well-designed course, a clear business need, and they still have low completion, low opens, low follow-through. The usual diagnosis is that the content wasn’t engaging enough. So the next version gets more interactive, more visual, more gamified. And the numbers stay flat.
iSpring’s new guide, Why Employees Ignore Training: Nontrivial Ways to Increase Engagement, starts from a different premise: the problem is rarely the course itself. It identifies four specific points where the learner experience tends to break down, and most of them have nothing to do with course design.
New research calls for a rethink of student motivation theory
A new paper argues that mainstream motivation theories ignore the impact of racism and inequality on how students set and pursue goals. Proposing a “Liberatory Motivation Framework,” the researchers show that students from marginalised communities demonstrate resilience by redefining success on their own terms.
Boomer hiring falls
Employment Hero’s February Jobs Report has found boomer employment at UK small and medium-sized businesses fell -5.8 per cent year on year in February, despite overall employment rising to 4.9%.
The findings have added concerns that older workers are being squeezed out of the labour market and are turning to ‘CV botoxing’ – stripping years, dates and senior roles from their CVs – to appear younger and appealing to employers.
Recruiter calls for ‘Resilience Training’ to be added to National Curriculum
The Head of Learning and Development at one of the UK’s top recruiters is calling for ‘resilience training’ to be added to the national curriculum amid a rise in young people being off long-term sick at work and a growing segment of young people who are not in any form of education or training. Gi Group UK’s Emma-Louise Taylor says equipping school-aged children with a better understanding of how their minds work under pressure could play a critical role in longer term workforce stability.
Emma-Louise, who leads learning, development, and equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives across the business believes current education systems place too much emphasis on academic achievement while overlooking the human side – what has become commonly known as the ‘softer skills’ – of development.
HR software spend scrutinized as SMBs prioritise optimisation
New survey data from Expert Market has revealed that nearly three quarters (73%) of US SMBs are re-evaluating their current tech investments. Of the businesses re-evaluating tech spend, 23% are re-evaluating payroll software costs and 18% are re-assessing HR software spend.
New air traffic control hiring campaign targets gamers to address longtime staffing shortage
A new air traffic controller hiring campaign from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) is targeting gamers to address a longtime staffing shortage. The DOT’s new ad shows clips of video games and tells potential applicants: “You’ve been training for this … become an air traffic controller. It’s not a game. It’s a career.”
“To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “This campaign’s innovative communication style and focus on gaming taps into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller.”
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