A new poll by Ernst & Young LLP finds that 50 percent of business leaders anticipate a combination of layoffs and hiring over the next six months as a direct result of AI adoption.

Even with hiring plans in place, three out of five technology leaders (61 percent) say that emerging technology has made it more challenging for their company to source top technology talent.

In its latest “Technology Pulse Poll,” the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the future of work — from integration to talent and culture — is examined in depth.

“One thing is certain: Companies are reshaping their workforce to be more AI savvy. With this transition, we can anticipate a continuous cycle of strategic workforce realignment, characterized by simultaneous layoffs and hiring, and not necessarily in equal volumes,” says Vamsi Duvvuri, EY Technology, Media and Telecommunications AI leader. “But it’s not all doom and gloom. Employees and companies alike continue to show enthusiasm around AI, specifically when it comes to opportunities to scale and compete more effectively in the marketplace.”

According to the poll, 72 percent of respondents say their employees are using AI at least daily in the workplace, with top use cases being coding and software development (51 percent), data analysis (51 percent), and internal and external communication (47 percent).

Despite concerns about AI and the necessity of more regulation around the technology, most technology business leaders (85 percent) believe that emerging technology has had a positive impact on their workplace culture.

“AI is transforming the way we work, creating new opportunities for innovation and growth, while simultaneously posing unprecedented challenges, especially when it comes to talent,” says Ken Englund, EY Americas Technology, Media and Telecommunications leader. “Our recent pulse poll demonstrates that technology companies generally have a positive sentiment toward the next productivity wave. There’s a lot of excitement at these companies in terms of how they will successfully apply their own industry tools to themselves.”

Red flags around AI remain top of mind, especially when it comes to regulation, the survey found.

Technology business leaders say that upskilling employees (33 percent), copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property (IP) (33 percent), and a lack of transparency around decision-making (37 percent) were at the top of their list of AI concerns.

Nearly half of technology business leaders agree that more AI regulation is needed, specifically when it comes to minimizing AI-generated bias (48 percent), protecting user privacy (48 percent) and safeguarding IP (47 percent).

AI investment continues to rise.

Though many are still report concerns about AI, 82 percent of tech business leaders plan to increase their AI investment in the next year.

From a hiring standpoint, tech leaders are focused on investing in specific roles, such as cybersecurity analysts (69 percent), data scientists (68 percent) and AI engineers (68 percent).

Nearly two-thirds of technology business leaders (64 percent) say their company has put internal development programs in place to help employees keep pace with rapidly changing generative AI (Gen AI).

Three out of four technology business leaders (76 percent) say they have implemented internal technical certifications to help employees keep pace with Gen AI.

The poll, conducted in March 2024, surveyed more than 250 leaders in the technology industry.