The latest L&D news, reports, research and updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook. This week: AI adoption surges, though without enough training. HR leaders scramble over data law reforms. Government builds ambitious new data platform to unify departments. Read how these shifts are reshaping roles, risks, and responsibilities.
Boosting inclusion for neurodiverse staff could unlock project success, report finds
Research by the Association for Project Management (APM), the chartered membership organisation for the project profession, has identified that people with neurodevelopmental conditions – such as ADHD, dyslexia, and autism spectrum disorder – could bring unique insights and talents to many organisations and projects, if they were better supported to do so.
APM commissioned the recently published ‘Promoting Neurodiversity Report’ to assess how well the industry is integrating neurodivergent people, and what more needs to be done. The report states that neurodivergent individuals sometimes have strengths and abilities that can support project success, including better pattern recognition, risk management, adaptability, and more.
Transformation tensions: 65% of executives are losing confidence and clarity amid rising digital complexity
New research from VML, a global brand creative and business transformation company, reveals that lengthy timelines, rising complexity and shifting goals are eroding business confidence in delivering digital transformation projects, all of which can be avoided with expert guidance.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of business leaders say transformation teams are losing confidence in their ability to deliver meaningful value, while 67% admit teams are confused and struggling to stay on track due to shifting priorities and the lack of strategic direction.
73% of UK managers prioritise daily outdoor time
The Secrets from a Coach podcast, hosted by wellness coach Debbie Green at Wishfish and TEDx speaker Laura Thomson-Staveley at Phenomenal Training, today released findings from its inaugural 2025 Wellbeing at Work Survey. The study takes a deep dive into workplace wellness, team dynamics and leadership challenges in the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The survey reveals that managers are taking steps to care for themselves. Almost three quarters (73%) of respondents get outside at least once a day. The findings also reveal that overwhelming workloads (58%), time pressures (53%) and lack of support from senior leadership (30%) and are the top obstacles preventing managers from providing the support their teams need during challenging periods.
Maximising level 7 apprenticeship funding for HR before the deadline
The looming changes to the UK Apprenticeship Levy are causing ripples across industries. For the HR sector, which often uses Level 7 apprenticeships to address leadership skills gaps and workforce challenges, these changes are particularly significant.
From January 2026, government Levy funding for Level 7 apprenticeships will no longer be available for new starters aged 22 and over, which is likely to cause a key pain point for those wanting to formally upskill more senior staff. However, there’s a silver lining for organisations that act quickly, as businesses can still utilise the Levy funding for new level 7 learners, as long as they’re enrolled before the 31 December deadline.
AI is powering the new global flexible work model, and 51% of employees say it will make physical offices obsolete in the future
GoTo, the leader in cloud communications and IT, announced new findings from its research study: The Pulse of Work in 2025: Trends, Truths, and the Practicality of AI. The study summarises the findings of a survey of 2,500 global employees and IT leaders on AI use and sentiment, conducted in partnership with research firm Workplace Intelligence.
Among the newly released findings: AI has been instrumental in supporting people in today’s “work from anywhere” world, so much so that over half of employees (51%) think AI will eventually make physical offices obsolete. 62% of employees still say they’d prefer AI-enhanced remote working over working in the office.
51% of sales and marketing professionals use AI agents at work, but only 17% have received job-specific training
More than two-thirds of sales and marketing professionals (68%) use AI at work, and more than half (51%) use AI agents, new research from General Assembly found. However, less than one in five (17%) received comprehensive, job-specific training on AI, creating risks related to governance and brand safety.
General Assembly surveyed more than 300 marketing and sales employees in the United States and the United Kingdom, and found that most (55%) use AI less than five times a day. However, 20% are using it more than 10 times per day. Respondents say they use AI for content creation (57%), market research and analytics (49%), sales operations (47%), customer relationship management (42%) and advertising (41%).
Google searches jump 16,000% as HR leaders face urgent Data (Use and Access) Act training deadlines
VinciWorks has identified a 16,000% month-on-month increase in Google searches for “Data Use and Access Act” in June 2025, the month the legislation became law on 19 June. This spike highlights how seriously UK organisations are taking the changes to data protection law.
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA) revises UK GDPR and PECR regulations by introducing stricter DSAR handling rules; higher marketing penalties; and updated automated decision-making protections. It also establishes digital identity frameworks and Smart Data schemes. Crucially for HR leaders, the reforms will affect every department handling personal data, from HR, recruitment and payroll to marketing, sales, and operations.
UK Treasury works on major new data platform to ‘rewire the state’
The finance department says that, a key part of delivering on the vision of the chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, will be enabling “more collaboration and transparency between departments and the centre of government, requiring a greater level of sharing and harmonising of key data sets – including finance, outcome and performance data”, according to a newly published commercial notice.
This vision is complemented by the ongoing delivery across Whitehall of the Shared Services for Government (SSfG), wherein five clusters of departments are each unifying on a unified back-office software infrastructure. This tech architecture will derive information “from a range of sources [and] the expected solution will require a wide range of integrator capability options, able to extract, transform and load data from current legacy and new IT Systems, along with centrally held MS Office-based datasets”.
Read more on our sister publication PublicTechnology.net
