The latest L&D news, reports, research and updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook. This week: Front-line managers revive improvement efforts, HR leaders feel the strain, graduates doubt degrees, and employee-manager gaps widen. US hiring cools, Sunday dread rises, belonging falters, agentic HR arrives, plus networking and conference dates.
Confidence in L&D is rising, but AI is making learning tech an enterprise decision
Go1, the all-in-one workforce enablement solution, released research showing that confidence in L&D has grown, even as AI adoption, governance requirements and tool sprawl are making learning technology decisions more complex and cross-functional.
The report, The New Buying Committee, surveyed 950 senior leaders across IT, Finance, Procurement, Legal and Compliance. It found that trust in L&D has increased over the past two to three years, with 77% of IT leaders, 64% of Finance leaders and 52% of Legal and Compliance leaders reporting greater confidence in the function.
At the same time, learning technology is no longer viewed as a decision HR can make alone. Only 9% of IT leaders and 17% of Finance leaders believe HR should lead learning technology investments. Instead, cross-functional influence is rising: 88% of IT leaders, 82% of Finance leaders and 83% of Legal and Compliance leaders say they have more influence over these decisions than they did two to three years ago. Collectively, these insights indicate that learning systems are transitioning from isolated departmental tools to essential components of enterprise infrastructure.
Speed-to-skill: The race against skill decay
The new TalentLMS Speed-to-Skill Report reveals a gap between how quickly work evolves and how quickly organisations build capability. Seven in ten respondents say employees need faster ways to practice skills as job demands change. Nearly half of respondents say some of their job skills have become outdated within the last five years.
- 47% of respondents say some of their job skills have become outdated within the last five years.
- 38% of managers say it’s difficult to predict which skills their team will need in the next 12 months.
Only 1 in 4 employees feel equipped for AI, Skillsoft research finds
Skillsoft, a leading AI-native skills management platform, released the Skillsoft Workforce Readiness Report: AI Edition. The findings show that while AI is now embedded in nearly every workplace, most employees are not prepared to use it effectively.
Although 86% of employees surveyed use AI tools at work, only 24% feel fully equipped with the skills required to use them effectively and drive results. At the same time, 77% of leaders believe their organisations have set employees up for success, revealing a 53-point gap between how leadership perceives readiness and the reality for employees.
- Skills visibility is nearly absent. Only 11% of employees report receiving formal skills assessments, leaving most organisations without a reliable picture of what their workforce can actually do.
- Training is out of sync with AI rollouts. Just 16% of employees receive training before new AI tools are introduced.
- Governance remains the exception. Less than 1 in 10 employees say their organization has comprehensive AI governance in place, while 21% say their organisation provides no AI guidance whatsoever.
AI in the workplace: What’s really holding the AI revolution back?
Of all the factors that shape AI performance at work, AI training for employees is the most consequential. It is also the least delivered:
- 46% of workers said they learned AI primarily through self-taught trial and error
- 33% report receiving formal employer-provided training
- 36% reported receiving no AI training of any kind
The effect on results is direct:
- Among workers reporting fair or poor AI outcomes, 68% had received no training
- Among those reporting very good or excellent results, 76% had received significant training
Front-line managers are key to making improvement plans work, survey finds
One-third of front-line managers say continuous improvement programs stall because they’re driven by people who don’t understand how day-to-day work is done, according to a report from technology company SafetyCulture.
A survey of 3,028 middle managers in front-line industries across the U.S., UK, Ireland and Australia found that 30% of managers view these programs as a top-down tick-box exercise; 32% say they create more work without clear benefit; and nearly 1 in 4 feel they disrupt workflows and create instability.
By contrast, survey respondents said manager-led ideas made operations more efficient (52%); improved workflow (44%); saved time for workers (43%); and resulted in better products or customer service (40%).
HR Leaders are under pressure
As AI integration redefines the workplace, even your top performers are reaching a breaking point. Here is what HR leaders are worrying about:
- 88% see retaining top performers as a priority for 2026
- 62% fear losing talent with AI-related skills
- 89% say employee wellbeing is critical to financial success
Two-thirds of UK graduates say their degrees failed to prepare them for an AI economy, Careerminds research finds
Graduate job postings fell by a third in 2025, while entry-level roles have declined 35% globally since January 2023. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is now performing tasks that were once associated with many post-university roles, such as drafting legal documents, building financial models, writing marketing copy, and analysing data.
The degrees 2026 graduates have spent the last few years earning could be obsolete, given the portion of tasks now being completed by automated systems. With that in mind, Careerminds UK asked 600 graduates how well their education prepared them for an AI-disrupted job market.
- 63.1% UK graduates say their degree did not fully prepare them for today’s job market
- 14.0% graduates report their degree actively failed them
90% of employers believe they understand their workforce, but 43% of employees say they don’t feel understood
BHN Extras 2026 Coping Index research suggests the UK workforce has entered what we’re calling a ‘coping era’, where employees are managing rising pressure through behaviours that can easily be mistaken for resilience or productivity. But beneath the surface, these behaviours may signal something more concerning.
While 90% of employers believe they understand their workforce, nearly half (43%) of employees under pressure say they don’t feel understood. This disconnect is even more pronounced across seniority levels:
- 51% of C-level leaders feel fully understood
- Just 19% of manual and semi-skilled workers feel the same
The result is what we describe as a ‘leadership bubble’, where decision-makers may be removed from the day-to-day reality of employee experience.
97% of managers believe they involve their teams in change initiatives, but only 45% of their employees agree
New research from GoodHabitz, one of Europe’s leading online corporate learning providers, has found a clear disconnect between managers and employees when going through periods of change.
This comes at a time when European companies are facing significant uncertainty. In 2025, BCG’s research found that 1 in 6 European companies were under “transformation pressure” and now Q1 earnings calls from major European companies suggest leaders are predicting further instability well into 2026.
To bridge the gap between managers and employees in stressful times of change, GoodHabitz has released its AI-powered program Experts, designed to quickly create training materials that preserve knowledge.
US job growth continues as hiring slows and labour demand levels off
The US economy added 123,700 jobs in May 2026, according to new data from Revelio Public Labor Statistics, with growth concentrated in public administration, healthcare and professional services.
Revelio’s latest labour market analysis points to continued employment growth but a more cautious labour market, with hiring rates, job postings and salaries in new vacancies all declining during the month.
Sunday anxiety may point to workplace problems, says expert
Persistent ‘Sunday dread’ should not be dismissed as a normal part of working life and may indicate underlying workplace problems, according to occupational health and safety specialist Brenig Moore, at Astutis.
Moore said recurring anxiety before the start of the working week can signal a mismatch between an employee and their working environment. His comments follow the latest Health and Safety Executive figures showing more than 17 million working days were lost to work-related stress, depression or anxiety over the past year.
Majority of UK employees enjoy their jobs but many don’t feel part of something bigger
The new study of 1,000+ UK workers by The Chameleon Agency found that 48% of employees report feeling connected to their role and aligned with their organisation’s values and purpose. The rest, however, sit in a more complicated grey zone.
Almost a third (31%) fall into what The Chameleon Agency calls ‘the hollow connected’, people who enjoy their work day-to-day but feel no real connection to their organisation’s purpose, values or mission. A further 13% generally like their role and their colleagues but are not engaged with leadership, while 7% describe themselves as fully disengaged.
The Josh Bersin Company launches bold blueprint for agentic AI: HR 2030
The Josh Bersin Company, the world’s most trusted HR advisory firm, unveiled a bold research and advisory program, HR 2030: The Journey to Agentic HR, detailing a future in which HR operates as a dynamic service, powered not only by AI agents but by a new superstructure of “superagents” working 24/7 across core people and business processes.
The new vision and blueprint urges organizations to begin this journey now and take an architectural approach to avoid fragmented and inefficient “agent sprawl.”
L&D by the Sea
Join the Learning Network for drinks on the rooftop, with their ever-popular Summer mixer, sponsored by Mint. Hosted in Brighton on 25th June, from 14:30 to 19:00, with drinks and pizza provided, it’s a great day for learning, relaxing, and networking.
World of Learning announces Workforce Solutions Conference for senior HR leaders
Co-located with World of Learning, the Workforce Solutions Conference will take place on 6 & 7 October 2026. The Conference Programme has now been released, alongside Delegate packages and early-bird rates, giving HR attendees an early opportunity to explore what’s on and secure their place.
Chaired by Chief People Officer, Nebel Crowhurst, the two-day Conference provides a dedicated space for senior HR and people leaders to explore the most pressing people challenges organisations are facing today. Co-located with the World of Learning Conference & Exhibition, an annual event which has been running for more than 30 years, the Workforce Solutions Conference Programme 2026 features an exceptional line up on industry experts examining how organisations can build resilient workforces, prepare for AI-driven transformation in the workplace and balance business performance with human experience.
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