Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a regular part of working life for many employees in Singapore, with almost one in four workers using it nearly every day.
However, despite widespread adoption, relatively few workers are convinced that AI will improve their jobs, according to the latest People at Work 2026 report by ADP Research.
The report found that 23% of workers in Singapore use AI nearly daily, while 56% use it at least multiple times a week.
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Globally, AI adoption is slightly lower, with one in five (20%) workers using AI nearly daily and half using it multiple times a week.
Despite these figures, only 15% of workers in Singapore strongly agreed that AI would positively affect their job responsibilities over the following year.
Jessica Zhang, Senior Vice President of APAC at ADP, said AI adoption alone does not automatically translate into meaningful workplace improvements.
She said employees need both the skills and confidence to use AI effectively so they can focus on work requiring “human judgment, creativity, and meaningful connections with others”.
She added: “For employers, this presents an opportunity to invest in training and set clearer performance expectations.”
The report also found that Singapore workers are becoming more certain about AI’s impact on their jobs.
Only 10% of respondents said they were unsure how AI could affect their roles, down from 19% a year earlier. However, AI adoption differs based on company size.
Among employees at mid-sized organisations with 250 to 999 staff, 34% said they use AI daily at work.
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This compares with just 19% of workers at both small businesses with fewer than 250 employees and large organisations with at least 1,000 employees.
Yvonne Teo, Vice President of HR for APAC at ADP, said the findings suggest organisations face different challenges in adopting AI.
She said smaller firms may need greater access to affordable AI tools, while larger companies may have to simplify processes and become more agile to encourage wider adoption.
“This highlights an opportunity to close adoption gaps so that the benefits of AI are realised more consistently across Singapore’s economy,” Ms Teo added.
The report also found differences in attitudes across job types.
About 22% of knowledge workers believe AI will positively affect their job responsibilities, compared with 11% of skilled task workers and 7% of repetitive task workers.
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Meanwhile, AI use is not confined to younger employees. Workers aged 27 to 39 are the most frequent daily AI users at 25%, followed by those aged 40 to 54 at 23%.
Employees aged 18 to 26 recorded daily AI usage of 20%.
Globally, workers who use AI every day tend to report a more positive work experience.
Only 11% of daily AI users said they experienced negative stress, which is roughly half the rate of non-users (23%).
Frequent AI users were also more likely to report feeling engaged at work, being part of strong teams and believing their jobs were secure.
However, the report also found a surprising trend.
Daily AI users were four times more likely than non-users to say they felt less productive, suggesting some workers may feel they are accomplishing less as AI becomes increasingly integrated into their daily tasks.
Dr Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said AI is changing not only how work is done but also how employees feel at work.
She said employers who help staff adapt to new ways of working with AI can make the technology feel “less like a disruption and more like a teammate.”
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