LOWELL, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–UKG, a leading global AI platform unifying HR, pay, and workforce management, has unveiled its three annual predictions that will impact work, leaders, and employees globally in the coming year. These 2026 labor trends will be critical for organizations, C-level leaders, and employees to navigate change confidently in the year ahead:
- Accelerating Adoption: The People-First AI Imperative
- Pursuing Agility: The Talent Ecosystem Reality
- Beyond Engagement: The Employee Enablement Era
“Leaders can’t just read and respond anymore since the workplace is changing quicker than ever. Rachel Barger, President, GTM at UKG, said, “They need to use the workforce data and insights they have to guess what’s coming next and quickly adapt to changes in the labor market and the market.” “The 2026 UKG Megatrends show how embracing change can be a real advantage — from using AI with a people-first approach to adopting flexible talent models and creating environments where employees can truly thrive.”
The People-First AI Imperative: for AI to work, people need to trust, comprehend, and work together.
The reality: The truth is that UKG’s Great Place to Work revealed that two-thirds of companies aren’t ready for AI transformation, and UKG’s study shows that just 53% of frontline workers think their company is getting them ready for an AI-driven workplace.
The solution: Companies that put creating trust and working together across departments first—especially bringing IT, HR, and Communications together—will find AI’s hidden value. Leaders, especially those who work on the front lines, need to be well-informed and vocal supporters of AI projects. Adoption isn’t just about technology. People do.
What it means for employees: In an environment where digital collaboration is rapidly becoming the norm, employees should develop targeted AI competencies that streamline core workflows and align with their organization’s or industry’s needs, reinforcing their value and a growth mindset.
The truth about the talent ecosystem is that flexibility in schedules, internal markets, and agility will keep people:
The Reality: The truth is that the talent deficit is getting worse faster because of changing demographics, fewer people working, and bigger skills disparities. This has caused a talent crisis in the workforce that regular hiring can’t fix. At the same time, losing good employees hurts significantly more when there aren’t many qualified people available. UKG research shows that the main reasons frontline staff resign are work schedules and limited career advancement.
The Solution: The answer is to create a flexible talent ecosystem that includes full-time, part-time, gig, and AI-enabled jobs. Give your current employees more freedom over where, when, and how much they work by using flexible talent models that help with both hiring and keeping personnel. This way, you can deploy them where the business needs them most.
What it means for employees: As workforce models grow more fluid, people need to develop skills that can be used in a variety of jobs and departments at work to stay relevant in this evolving talent ecosystem.
The Employee Enablement Era: techniques for autonomy, access, and personalization drive engagement
The Reality: The truth is that employee engagement is still alarmingly low around the world, costing businesses billions. What caused it? Not enough trust and not enough power. UKG’s research showed that two out of five employees don’t have the power to make decisions, even for simple things like fixing customer problems or making processes better.
The Solution: Leaders should stop focusing on engagement initiatives and start focusing on enablement strategies. This will help establish trust-based cultures while giving people freedom, access to resources, and individualized and holistic support for their health and well-being. According to years of study by Great Place To Work, cultures with a lot of trust lead to 42% greater discretionary effort, both when the economy is good and when it is bad.
What it means for employees: In places where people trust each other, employees should actively and carefully look for new tools and solutions, needed resources, and/or obstacles that are getting in the way of their work. Bringing up problems and suggesting solutions to executives will make an employee’s overall effect stronger. Employees can do more than just point out problems if management helps them. They can also remedy them.
UKG is hosting a free HR and Payroll e-Symposium called “Understand Your Workforce” on January 28, 2026, where they will talk about these workplace megatrends and how companies and managers may adjust to the changing dynamics of the workplace.
About UKG
UKG is one of the best AI platforms in the world for managing HR, wages, and the workforce. UKG combines award-winning solutions with the world’s largest collection of workforce data and people-first AI to give businesses in every industry the best insights into today’s workforce. This helps them turn data into decisions that improve productivity, culture, and the customer experience. More than 80,000 organizations in 150 countries trust UKG. Every day, tens of millions of workers, from tiny firms to big companies, use it.