Jabra study finds AI adds work & boosts collaboration

Jabra has published a global workplace study that found most knowledge workers report heavier workloads alongside greater use of artificial intelligence. The research surveyed more than 6,000 workers across six countries.

The study found that 85% of respondents said at least one area of their day-to-day work had increased over the past year, while 35% said they spent less time on at least one type of work. Overall, the findings suggest AI is associated with added tasks rather than a broad reduction in workload.

Among heavy AI users, the increase was more pronounced across several categories. Fifty-six percent said they spent more time on strategic planning, compared with 35% of light and non-users. The same share, 56%, reported more creative work, versus 30% of lighter users. Administrative and coordination work also rose for 57% of heavy users, compared with 38% of others, while 45% said routine tasks had increased, against 33% of light and non-users.

Collaboration trends

The report also found that frequent AI use coincided with more collaboration rather than less. Among employees who use AI several times a day, 64% said they collaborate more with colleagues than a year ago, compared with 25% of light users.

Heavy AI users were also more likely to report stronger team connection. Sixty-three percent said their sense of connection with colleagues had improved, while 12% said it had deteriorated. Among those using AI monthly or less often, 17% reported a stronger sense of connection.

Meetings remain central to that shift in working patterns. The study found that 40% of respondents spent most of their meeting time on joint problem-solving, while 39% said decision-making was the main use of meetings.

Adoption gap

The findings also pointed to a widening gap between senior leaders and staff without management duties. Thirty percent of top managers were classified as heavy AI users, compared with 8% of individual contributors.

At the other end of the scale, 40% of individual contributors used AI monthly or less, compared with 14% of top managers. That difference was also reflected in how strongly workers felt their jobs had changed: 47% of top management reported significant or fundamental change over the past year, versus 18% of individual contributors.

Support from employers also appeared uneven. Forty-four percent of C-suite respondents said their organisation had put in place at least three measures to support AI adoption, compared with 14% of individual contributors. Meanwhile, 38% of individual contributors said their employer had taken no action or that they were unaware of any measures, against 10% of top management.

Training showed a similar pattern. Sixty-four percent of individual contributors said they had received no AI training or only a brief introduction, compared with 26% of top management. Among those who had received training, 39% of individual contributors rated it as very or extremely relevant to their role, versus 76% of top management.

Manager effect

The study identified line managers as an important factor in day-to-day AI use. Only 27% of individual contributors said their direct managers were very or extremely competent in AI.

Where employees viewed their manager as AI-competent, 65% used AI daily. That fell to 27% among those who did not, making daily use 2.4 times higher in the first group.

There was also a marked difference in career optimism. Employees who considered their manager competent in AI rated their career optimism at 8.3 out of 10, compared with 5.5 among those who did not.

"The winning companies of the future will be the companies that win at AI deployment. And winning at AI deployment depends on leaders listening and engaging with their teams to fully understand what they need to work with AI productively," said Calum MacDougall, President, Jabra.

Voice use

The research also examined how workers interact with AI, not just how often they use it. Employees who regularly used voice rather than only typing reported better wellbeing measures across several categories.

Workers who speak to AI were 24% less likely to report feeling stressed and 23% less likely to say they felt exhausted. They were also 37% more likely to say their job felt secure, while larger shares also reported motivation, fulfilment and purpose.

Regular use of voice AI was more common where staff received practical training, where managers were seen as useful sources of support and where work processes were designed for collaborative use. The study also found that employees with professional audio and video hardware intended for conversational AI were around 40% more likely to use voice interaction regularly in their work.

The survey was conducted by Toluna on behalf of Jabra and covered knowledge workers in Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Poland and India. It examined almost 200 variables linked to AI use, organisational support and employee experience.

"We all talk to our work colleagues. Having conversations with our AI colleagues is a natural extension of the way we already work - when we can simply speak & iterate in the flow of work, AI becomes a practical partner and colleague. Companies that make this human to AI conversation seamless and secure will unlock the best returns on their AI investments," said MacDougall.