Welcome back from leave. Your job is completely different.
With longer leaves and faster changes at work, employees are returning as strangers in a strange land.
Ashley Wallace returned from six months of maternity leave to discover her job had become unrecognizable. Praktika, the AI language-learning app she once used ChatGPT for, now utilized Claude, an enterprise system she had never encountered during her absence. The surge in AI adoption had transformed the hiring landscape as well, with more than a thousand candidates vying for limited roles. Wallace had to adapt her interview process to identify candidates who used AI to pad their applications.
In just a few months, the AI landscape had evolved, introducing new enterprise systems, workflows, and AI experiments. Workers returning from leave found themselves navigating alien technologies and processes, feeling like they had moved backwards in time. A recent Gallup poll showed that nearly half of workers reported their companies had adopted AI, while 40% of those at large companies said their firms were scaling AI usage.
As AI continues to reshape the workforce, employees often return from leave to a drastically altered job environment. Max Cherry, a former public relations professional, had to relearn how to use AI for tasks that had once been manual. Tina, a designer, noticed her colleagues' AI-generated illustrations, which required extensive editing. Tina's company began requiring AI use, even though the results were often subpar. Workers fear that their hard-earned skills may become obsolete in the face of rapid AI advancements.
Written by urgent.news from Business Insider's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
