95% of workers feel productivity gains from AI
Findings unveiled at KPC HRD Trend Seminar
AI use has cut workers' hours by 30%, but only 56% say it has changed how their organizations actually work — a gap analysts say points to a persistent divide between productivity gains and organizational culture.
The Korea Productivity Center (KPC) shared the findings Friday at its KPC HRD Trend Seminar, held at its headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
The data came from the "2027 HRD Trend Report," based on a KPC survey of 1,482 workers — 382 human resources and education managers and 1,100 general employees — conducted in July.
Ninety-five percent of workers said they felt productivity gains from AI, while only 56% said it had changed how their organization operates, highlighting the challenge of translating individual gains into broader workplace transformation.
Positive responses on AI's productivity impact reached 95 percent, with negative responses below 1 percent. The scale of the gains was also notable: 57 percent said AI had cut their work hours by more than 30 percent, and 91 percent reported reductions of at least 10 percent.
By contrast, only 56 percent said AI had changed how their organization works — a gap of roughly 39 percentage points compared with the 95 percent who felt personal productivity gains. The findings suggest that while AI's benefits are clear at the individual level, they have yet to translate into changes in organizational processes and working practices.
AI use has become routine. Sixty-two percent said they use AI tools every day, and adding those who use them one to two times a week brings the total to 92 percent. The results indicate that AI has moved beyond a niche tool to become a daily fixture for the vast majority of workers.
The top three uses were content creation, data analysis and visualization, and information search. Education and training managers most frequently cited content creation (61.5 percent) and data analysis (61.0 percent), while general employees most often turned to AI for information search (69 percent).
More than two in three workers — 67.5 percent — said they had received AI-related training, reflecting the broad spread of AI education in the workplace. However, 32.5 percent had yet to receive any such training, and analysts said efforts are needed to expand access and narrow the gap in AI proficiency.
freiheit@heraldcorp.com
