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AI at work: PwC finds better work quality can come with heavier workloads

PwC UK’s 2026 findings show that AI use is rising, but workers report a mixed result: better work quality alongside more complexity and heavier workloads.
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AI is becoming more common at work, but workers’ reports suggest adoption does not automatically make their jobs easier. In PwC UK’s 2026 Hopes and Fears findings, 70% of workers who used AI said it improved their work quality; 45% of those AI users said their work had become more complex, and 44% reported a heavier workload. These are survey responses, not proof that AI caused the extra work.

AI use is rising, but it is not evenly distributed

PwC UK reports that 56% of UK workers used AI at work in the preceding year, compared with 64% globally. Among UK non-managers, reported AI use rose from 24% to 35% over the previous twelve months. That increase still leaves a notable gap between non-managers and the UK workforce overall.

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The figures describe different groups and measures: the 56% figure is for UK workers overall, while 24% and 35% track non-managers across two points in time. They indicate wider use, not that every role has adopted AI or that workers have equal access to it.

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Reported improvements coexist with more work and complexity

Among workers who used AI, 70% said it improved the quality of their work. At the same time, 45% of AI users said their work had become more complex, and 44% reported a heavier workload. The figures are not mutually exclusive: a person can value the quality of an AI-assisted result while also taking on more tasks or handling more demanding work.

These percentages are responses from AI users, not all UK workers. They describe perceived experience and association; they do not show that AI alone caused work to become heavier or more complex. The published pages do not provide the sample size, field dates, detailed wording of these questions or the subgroup bases for these particular responses, so the figures should not be treated as a controlled estimate of AI’s effects.

Why adopting AI is not the same as redesigning a job

Adding an AI tool to an existing workflow can leave the underlying process untouched. If workers are expected to use AI on top of their existing responsibilities, the technology may improve an output while also adding review, coordination or other tasks. The survey results do not identify which tasks account for reported increases, but they do show why usage or output alone is not enough to judge whether work has improved.

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PwC UK’s Claire Reid, chief technology and innovation officer, argues that organisations should connect AI to specific roles and involve employees in deciding how it is used. “The answer isn’t to simply push AI further through the organisation, but to find the right ways to connect it to people’s job roles to help them see the value.”

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What employers can do to make adoption useful

  • Start with the job, not a usage target. Identify the work problem AI is meant to address and where it fits into the role, rather than treating broad adoption as the goal.
  • Involve the people doing the work. Give employees opportunities to experiment, learn and help shape how AI is used in their roles.
  • Measure the workflow, not just the output. Track whether tasks and handoffs are being redesigned, alongside productivity and quality, so extra workload or complexity is not hidden by a better end result.
  • Build skills and safeguards into the change. PwC says workers need the confidence and skills to use AI well, with appropriate safeguards around its use.

Reid’s broader point is that access to the technology alone is insufficient: organisations need to rethink work around the right problems, support workers’ skills and confidence, and put safeguards in place. That approach treats employees as participants in the redesign rather than simply recipients of a new tool.

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What the findings do—and do not—show

The 2026 findings present a mixed picture: reported AI use is increasing, and many users see better-quality work, while substantial shares also report greater complexity or heavier workloads. They do not establish that AI caused those changes, nor do the published figures explain how the experiences vary by occupation or workplace. The clearest takeaway is that employers should assess how AI changes the work itself, not assume that adoption automatically translates into a better job.

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