Latest news with #JFF
Fast Company
05-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
To realize AI's potential in the workplace, do one thing
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. In just a few short years, generative artificial intelligence has begun demonstrating its tremendous business potential. Stanford University's latest AI Index report reveals that global corporate investment in AI grew nearly 45% in 2024 to reach $252.3 billion. With private investment in generative AI up 8.5 times over 2022 levels, forecasts suggest that AI could soon contribute trillions of dollars to the American economy alone. By 2028, agentic AI, the next stage in AI's evolution, could be making at least 15% of day-to-day decisions at work and bring greater efficiency, productivity, and innovation. We're already seeing how AI is creating new businesses, products and services with the potential to expand access to new quality jobs and build new sources of wealth. Today, workers are using AI to inject creativity into their current jobs and start and grow their own businesses. Two-thirds of small businesses that use AI say their own employees are introducing AI tools to the workplace to improve operations, reduce costs and spark innovation. Many organizations are understandably focused on the near-term time- and cost-savings this emerging technology brings about. But pure efficiency won't unlock the true value of AI; that will require tapping into the expertise and creativity of their employees. To fully realize AI's potential to revolutionize our economy, we need to put workers at the center of the process of deciding where and how it shows up in the workplace. What does that look like in practice? AI training First, organizations should offer more AI training—from basic literacy to implementation. AI usage at work is surging, according to a new study from my team at JFF. Two years ago, only 8% of individuals used AI at work. Today, it's 35%. Those who use AI say AI is making them more efficient—and their jobs more interesting—by reducing the number of tedious tasks and allowing them to focus on more strategic and creative work. More training means more people experiencing these benefits and contributing to decision making around AI. Yet our survey also found wide training gaps. Fewer than one third (31%) of workers say their employers provide training on AI fundamentals or specific AI tools and systems. Slightly more than one third (34%) of employees not receiving AI training at work say they want their employer to offer it. This lack of access to training is creating barriers to the effective implementation of AI at work. Previous JFF research shows that nearly 60% of small businesses cited workforce readiness as the most common barrier to incorporating AI technology into their businesses. To overcome that barrier, organizations can start by providing affordable and practical AI literacy training that help employees learn how to get the most out of AI and become responsible users of this emerging technology. Employee-driven innovation Second, organizations should catalyze employee-driven innovation. Workers are already eager to use AI: according to JFF's recent survey, 20% of employees say they're taking the initiative to use AI at work in the absence of formal direction from their employers, while nearly 30% of workers are leveraging AI tools for strategic growth and innovation. There's a good business case to be made for bottom-up transformation. Research suggests that when workers are asked for their input, organizations are more likely to make effective use of AI tools and improve the quality of workers' jobs. To unlock growth using AI, businesses should involve their employees in piloting and deploying AI tools and processes across multiple roles and functions throughout an organization. Frontline employees—experts on their own workflows—are often in the best position to help improve and refine development of AI tools and processes. They're the ones companies should call on to find uses of AI that can create value and drive innovation. AI and human collaboration Finally, organizations should reconsider how their employees spend their time, the nature of the work they do, and their unique skills so they can unlock the best parts of collaboration between AI and humans. The immediate goal of AI implementation should be about enabling workers to prioritize work that creates new products, services and value that helps businesses grow. Collaboration between humans and AI has enormous potential. As a Harvard Business School working paper suggests, AI can help professionals significantly boost performance, expertise, and social connectivity in team settings. As AI becomes more capable of making its own decisions and completing complex tasks, humans will spend more time supervising AI, discerning and evaluating AI outputs, and managing interpersonal and collaborative activities with other humans. We've also seen that AI appears to significantly increase the value of human leadership in interpersonal and highly cognitive tasks like staffing organizations, building relationships, and guiding and motivating teams. Employers have an opportunity to prepare for this shift by designing high-quality jobs—and involving their workers in this process—that can get the best out of collaboration between humans and AI. The transformation of work is underway. Businesses seeking to navigate it should support employees in their earnest desire to develop AI literacy and skills, catalyze creativity and innovation throughout the organization, and intentionally redesign jobs to unlock the strengths of both AI and humans. Previous technological revolutions have shown that the benefits of progress are not distributed equally. But if companies keep their employees at the center, they can fulfill AI's potential as a force to expand access to quality jobs and economic opportunity for all.
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Fifa's ‘broken' case management process exposed in ongoing complaint against Jamaican coach
The Fifa ethics committee process for investigating sexual misconduct has been described as 'broken' and guilty of failing athletes 'big time' after a report made to its investigatory chamber was marked 'case closed' without the alleged victim being contacted nor any witnesses being interviewed. The report, made to Fifa's ethics committee in November 2024, contained allegations against Hubert Busby Jr, the current head of the Jamaican women's national team, in relation to multiple incidents that allegedly occurred when he was coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps women's team in 2010 and 2011. Fifa, however, has told the Guardian the case is not closed and the 'case closed' notification referred to the status of the reporting stage and not case management. Fifa said in a statement that it cannot confirm whether an investigation is active nor confirm the status of the report. Confusion over how the ethics committee reporting process functions is the latest twist in a 15-year saga in which clubs, national federations, and Fifa have been accused of failing to effectively handle documented allegations of misconduct. The report in question was made by former Vancouver Whitecaps player Malloree Enoch in November of 2024, following Busby's re-hire as coach of the Jamaican women's team. The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) falsely claimed that Busby had been cleared by Fifa in a previous investigation into alleged misconduct, which preceded his return. The previous investigation into Busby had been requested by the JFF after Busby had been initially accused by Enoch of making sexual advances while recruiting Enoch to the Vancouver Whitecaps. Busby has consistently denied allegations against him that have been previously reported by the Guardian. In January 2025, Enoch logged on to the Fifa portal to check the status of her report, and saw a notification the case was 'closed.' She claims she had not been interviewed by investigators nor informed of the case's status. Enoch says she made multiple attempts to contact the ethics committee as instructed on Fifa's website but was consistently redirected to offices that would or could not provide information to her. 'It's a circle jerk,' Enoch told the Guardian. 'The instructions say you have to go through a portal or go through the secretariat. I follow up with the secretariat and they are like 'we can't do anything for you.' I clicked around the Fifa website and they don't make it easy. Then they make it more difficult because no one can give you an answer. 'The buck just keeps getting passed. The system absolutely does not work. It is broken.' --- Busby first took over the Jamaica women's national team in 2020 but was removed the next year due to Enoch's allegations. The JFF requested an investigation by the Fifa ethics committee that led to Busby leaving the job, But last November the Guardian revealed the JFF had reinstated Busby as coach of its women's national team. The federation falsely claimed he had been cleared of allegations of serious misconduct. At the time, Fifa said its ethics committee had closed a preliminary investigation into the original allegations without reaching any judgment, adding that it could reopen the inquiry if it received more information about the claims. In November, Enoch attempted to submit more information on the case through the online portal provided by Fifa, but she could not successfully log in to the account. She emailed the ethics committee multiple times but did not immediately receive a response. When she did receive a response, the ethics committee secretariat advised her to send any new details to the email address of the ethics committee investigatory department. Frustrated, Enoch opened a new complaint further detailing her allegations in 2010 and 2011 and added statements from other players who were members of the Vancouver Whitecaps team at that time relating to the club's alleged management and the environment under Busby. Though the incidents in question were nearly 15 years old at that point, Enoch was well within her right to do so. According to the 2023 edition of the Fifa Code of Ethics, 'offences relating to threats, the promise of advantages, coercion and all forms of sexual abuse, harassment and exploitation (article 24) are not subject to [a time] limitation period'. The Fifa Code of Ethics also binds anyone working in football to inform the secretariat of the ethics committee of any 'infringements' of the code and that failure to report will involve sanction, a monetary fine, and ban. Busby has denied all claims of misconduct. In January 2025, Enoch added additional information through the portal and in February logged into the account to check for updates to her complaint. It was then that she discovered the 'case closed' message. She had received no additional information from Fifa on the status of the case. --- According to Joanna Maranhão of Sports & Rights Alliance – a global coalition of leading rights organizations that includes Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, and the International Trade Union Confederation as members – Fifa is failing athletes who report allegations of sexual misconduct. Some examples include the organization's slow-moving investigation into Zambia head coach Bruce Mwape and a lack of response to allegations against the president of the Afghanistan Football Federation. 'My mind always goes to the victim and what the victim is going through over and over again,' says Maranhão of the 'retraumatization' that can occur when sexual misconduct allegations in sport are pursued, and especially if they are slow-walked or delayed. A former swimmer who represented Brazil at four Olympic Games, Maranhão revealed in 2009 that she had been sexually abused at the age of nine by her then-coach. Her personal experience and advocacy eventually led to the Brazilian government passing a law that became known as 'the Joanna Maranhão law' establishing a 20-year statute of limitations for sexual abuse of children and adolescents from the date of the victim's 18th birthday. 'Worse than not having a system is having a system that doesn't work, which is precisely the case here,' she said of Fifa's process. Asked if Fifa is failing athletes, Maranhão responded, 'Big time.' 'Fifa doesn't use its leverage to punish, sanction, and take these people out [of sport],' she said, adding that she believes Fifa does not acknowledge the courage it comes for an alleged victim of abuse or misconduct to come forward in sport. 'That is where the main problem is when it comes to safeguarding in sport – the lack of trauma-informed approach.' In a statement to the Guardian, Fifa said the ethics committee does not comment on the status of alleged cases. 'The Fifa ethics committee takes any allegation reported to it extremely seriously,' a Fifa spokesperson said. 'Any allegation is handled in confidence and according to rules and regulations applicable to each case. 'Please note that Fifa's reporting portal functions for the investigatory chamber of the Fifa ethics committee solely as a reporting mechanism and does not serve as a case management system. Consequently, the status displayed on the reporting platform is not linked to the actual status of a claim or any related investigation proceedings.' Maranhão says that Enoch's reporting roundabout is not unusual – that it is a function of sports organizations failing to self-regulate abuse allegations within their own sports. 'It makes me angry but it doesn't surprise me,' she said. 'The sports system keeps using its autonomy to regulate itself.' Maranhão added that Fifa 'should be held accountable' for its failings, and that its autonomy is preventing that from being so. 'What sticks for me is who is taking care of [victims]?' she said of sexual misconduct cases in sport. 'Who is taking care of the constant trauma and harm that this person is going through? No one. 'We cannot hold sport as a moral compass and say that sport is a force for good when these things keep happening over and over again. I say this as someone who went to four Olympic Games. I love sport but I have been raped within the context of sport so I have lived both. It is important. The question is when will Fifa and the IOC and all sports governing bodies start acting and start taking care of the people who were harmed within their system? They have failed to protect them.'
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
From Pathways To Policy: JFF's Vision For A Career-Ready Workforce
At a time when the economy is shifting and student needs are evolving, the case for more flexible, ... More career-connected learning has never been stronger. (Photo by: Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) At a time when the economy is shifting and student needs are evolving, the case for more flexible, career-connected learning has never been stronger. From youth apprenticeships and dual enrollment to industry-aligned pathways, states are stepping up—and organizations like Jobs for the Future (JFF) are helping lead the way. In this exclusive Q&A, Maria Flynn, President and CEO of JFF, shares her insights on where the career-connected learning movement is headed. She weighs in on bipartisan momentum, promising state models, AI's role in the classroom, and what policymakers must do now to ensure today's learners are ready for tomorrow's jobs. Workforce development and career education are key priorities for many governors. Tell us about Jobs for the Future's work with states to support flexible learning and career-aligned outcomes. What does this work look like, and which states are standouts in terms of innovation and impact? For over 40 years, JFF has partnered with states to build career-aligned education and training systems, expanding work-based learning, apprenticeships, and career pathways that connect learners to good jobs. Through JFF's Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning and the Pathways to Prosperity Network, we help states design policies and programs that make education more flexible, workforce-relevant, and accessible. Maria Flynn, CEO of Jobs for the Future And momentum in this space is building. Recently, at the National Governors Association Winter Meeting, I joined Governors Tony Evers (D-WI) and Mark Gordon (R-WY) for a conversation on aligning education and workforce systems to meet labor market needs. With 10 other governors in the room, the bipartisan enthusiasm was clear: States are committed to expanding opportunities that give students real-world learning experiences and clear pathways to economic mobility. Texas is a great example. The Texas Regional Pathways Network is expanding career pathways that lead to industry-recognized credentials, strengthening education-workforce connections so students graduate with in-demand skills. Colorado's Big Blur initiative, which JFF helped advise, is redefining the transition from high school to career, advancing policies that expand youth apprenticeships, dual enrollment, and industry credential attainment. Across the country, states are moving beyond traditional education silos to build flexible, career-connected learning models that prepare young people for the jobs of the future. Now is the time to scale these approaches—and I'm eager to see how states continue to push forward. In her confirmation hearing, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stressed the importance of multiple pathways to success in the workforce. She's a proponent of apprenticeships, high school dual-credit programs, and other Career Connected Learning opportunities. What opportunities are you hoping to explore with the new administration? JFF shares Secretary McMahon's commitment to expanding career-connected learning. We look forward to working with the administration to scale high-quality apprenticeships, Career and Technical Education (CTE), and dual-enrollment programs that accelerate workforce readiness. JFF's Federal Policy Blueprint for the Trump Administration outlines key steps: setting ambitious career-readiness goals, prioritizing federal investment in skills development, and advancing industry-driven training. Proven models like CareerWise—a Swiss-inspired youth apprenticeship program operating in Colorado, New York, Washington, D.C., Indiana, and Michigan—demonstrate that career pathways can be an "options multiplier," opening doors to both college and careers. Similarly, North Carolina's Cooperative Innovative High Schools have implemented a shared governance model among school districts, community colleges, and employers to align education with workforce needs. This approach ensures joint decision-making in curriculum design, dual-enrollment opportunities, and the creation of internships or apprenticeships in high-demand fields like healthcare, IT, and early childhood education. The partnership accelerates students' entry into careers while preparing them for postsecondary education. At JFF, we're eager to build on successful state models and work with the new administration to expand career-connected learning. This will help create a more inclusive and dynamic education system that ensures all learners have multiple opportunities to succeed after high school. At the end of 2024, Congress came close to passing a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), but it didn't cross the finish line. Why does WIOA need an update and how could our nation's workforce system better partner with K-12 and postsecondary education to better support and prepare students for the jobs of the future? The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is pivotal in shaping the nation's workforce development system. However, the labor market has changed significantly since WIOA was last reauthorized in 2014; Congress needs to update the statute to account for current economic realities, emerging challenges, and new opportunities brought on by technological advancements. JFF has called on Congress to pass the "A Stronger Workforce for America Act," which proposes critical enhancements to WIOA, such as emphasizing skills development, introducing flexible training and career service delivery, and strengthening employer engagement. However, there's more work to be done to provide states and workforce entities with the resources and flexibility they need to implement proven workforce training models like industry sector partnerships and career pathways. Industry sector partnerships are invaluable in aligning education with current and future economic needs and in validating the labor market value of education programs and their associated credentials. Preparing students for the future of work depends on our ability to foster strong partnerships across the workforce development, K-12, and postsecondary education ecosystem. Local workforce boards are well-positioned to bridge the arbitrary divide between industry and education, helping to ensure that secondary and postsecondary curricula better align with employer demand, create new work-based learning opportunities, and leverage labor market information to enhance career navigation and counseling services. In prioritizing these efforts, we can connect the skills that employers need and those learned in a classroom. How are you thinking about AI in this time of rapid change? Are there ways in which AI is already being used effectively to accelerate Career Connected Learning? AI adoption in education and work is accelerating. In a recent survey with Audience Net, JFF found that 57% of learners now report that AI is being incorporated into their education by instructors (up from 13% in 2023). Yet, we also found that access remains uneven, with most learning institutions reporting that they are just beginning to use AI and related tools. JFF sees the opportunity in AI and has a Center for Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work that believes that—if designed, understood, and used correctly—AI can make learning more flexible, career-connected, and accessible, helping young people advance in their educational journey and connect to good jobs. The Center is supporting efforts around AI-powered tutoring, career guidance, and digital credentials to better ensure AI literacy is integrated into learning, while ensuring that AI supports—not replaces—human-centered education. To fully tap AI's potential, we need better policies, stronger workforce data, and greater investments in digital transformation. AI can expand career pathways and improve labor market insights, but only if we ensure these tools benefit all learners and don't just reinforce existing biases. National competitiveness is a priority for Republicans and Democrats. In a time of deep political divisions, how might both parties come together to prepare the next generation for the jobs of the future? Are there any opportunities you would encourage policymakers to seize or any strong state or local examples to replicate? In a deeply divided political climate, preparing the next generation for future employment remains a rare point of bipartisan consensus. JFF's "No Dead Ends" policy agenda, which aims to remove barriers to opportunity in education and the workforce, emphasizes policies with broad support across both parties. These include expanding access to industry-aligned educational opportunities, such as CTE and youth apprenticeships, which equip students with the skills employers need and provide learners with clear, practical career pathways. We also call for improved access to career information and relevant supports that enable today's learners to make informed choices about their futures and stay connected to education and work. There are immediate bipartisan actions that federal policymakers specifically can take to address these needs, like reauthorizing WIOA, passing the JOBS Act, which would expand the Pell Grant to include short-term and workforce-aligned programs, and encouraging greater public-private partnerships to advance high-quality work-based experiences in K-12. These policies have the potential to transform the lives of millions of learners while ensuring that businesses can find the talent they need. But as the federal government's role continues to evolve, JFF is increasingly turning to states, which are already leading the charge on this work. For example, Indiana recently launched the Career Scholarship Account program, offering $5,000 annually per student for career preparation. The state is also implementing a youth-apprenticeship program, engaging over 100 leaders to create three-year paid work-and-learn pathways for high school students. By fall, Indiana expects to enroll at least 450 new youth apprentices. At the local level in Clark County, Nevada, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is addressing teacher shortages with the launch of the NV|Forward Initiative, the state's first teacher apprenticeship program. With a 97% graduation rate, this initiative is helping to close the teacher gap and meet regional workforce needs. By empowering states to continue this work and aligning federal policy to support and scale their successful models, we can provide every learner with a clear path to good, sustainable employment and strengthen our nation's global competitiveness. Follow Sara Schapiro on LinkedIn.
Technical.ly
04-04-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
‘Digital wallet' credentials could help immigrants shine in job applications and interviews
A new way of credentialing workers is gaining traction in the US, and it could make it easier for immigrants to get jobs. Many immigrants experience obstacles to economic success stemming from highly nuanced work authorization issues, according to Tameshia Bridges Mansfield, vice president of the Workforce and Regional Economies practice at Jobs for the Future (JFF). This includes language barriers, challenges translating foreign credentials and lack of professional social capital. JFF and the nonprofit aid organization the International Rescue Committee (IRC) conducted a 15-month pilot program to test learner employment records (LERs) as a possible solution. The program's goal was to help immigrant job seekers easily share their skills with employers by digitizing and storing their information in one place. However, barriers like employer buy-in still stand in the way of widescale adoption. 'One hundred percent of the clients who participated in the LER pilot received jobs,' Kevin Davis, a technical advisor for workforce development programs at the IRC, told 'All of them at least tried to leverage the LER in the job application process, although I can say it varies to the degree on which the employer looked at, considered or valued that LER in the hiring process.' A digital wallet of professional achievements Davis oversaw the pilot initiative in Tucson, Arizona, and Des Moines, Iowa. There, the IRC's immigrants and refugee clients completed a job readiness program and were issued a digital, verifiable credential that they could share with employers via a digital wallet. Like how a smartphone wallet holds an airplane ticket, LERs store digital credentials that verify a person's achievements, education and other skills that may be difficult to communicate in a traditional resume format. For example, LERs can contain data like employment authorization documents, academic transcripts and proof of language proficiency The tech allows individuals to easily and directly share their information with employers, giving them full control over their valuable achievements. This contrasts with traditional academic transcripts, which are held and controlled by universities that often require a fee to access them. 'They're the sole proprietor of that [information],' Davis said. 'They own it and they have access to share what they want with whom they want, which is a very positive, empowering thing.' While the exact structure and training offered in each job training program varied, IRC clients generally learned the basic features of being employed at a typical US workplace, Davis said. This included clocking in and out of work, how to ask for time off and how to work well with others. These skills were then translated into the clients' LERs. With LERs, IRC clients could more easily communicate to employers that they were ready and able to maintain a job in the US, according to the study. 'Learner employment records technology can help level the playing field for immigrants and refugees,' Mansfield said, 'by recognizing their lived experiences, giving them ownership of their data and allowing them to control how it is shared. A universal tech to evaluate job seeker skillsets LER tech isn't just something immigrants or refugees can use to improve the hiring process. The tech could be a critical tool for making skills-based hiring a reality in the US, according to the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation. A skills-based hiring approach focuses on a job seeker's abilities and learned skills over formal education or job experience. The practice is becoming more popular because it can help diversify workforces and fewer people are seeking college degrees. A nationwide initiative launched in 2023 created an interactive map of the country's LER ecosystem. The map was designed to help workers and employers anywhere in the US find ways to access and adopt this new technology into the hiring process Multiple states are moving to adopt LERs in some way. California announced plans last year to create a program that would issue 'career passports,' a digital tool that would document academic transcripts and verified skills earned outside of the classroom. Alabama and Arkansas have also made plans to launch LER tech for state residents. Tech with high potential but tough logistics As the JFF and IRC pilot program found, major challenges still remain for LERs to go mainstream, including coordinating a number of stakeholders involved, according to Davis. First, a technology partner needs to offer a digital platform or management tool that holds users' credentials. For the pilot program, a digital app was created by an independent organization. Attention to data privacy and security is paramount for this stakeholder. A credible program then needs to offer job training and skill verification services. In the pilot, IRC offered the jobs training program, but a government agency, private business, educational institution or a network of nonprofits could play this role. Now, it can go into the hands of workers and hiring managers. Job seekers need to have the digital literacy skills to understand LERs and use them effectively when looking for work. Employer buy-in is also critical, Davis said. Currently, not every employer's hiring process can conveniently accept LERs — and, not every employer knows what LERs are. 'I think everyone sees the value in this in different and exciting new ways,' Davis said, 'but the logistics of it remain an open question to a lot of the different stakeholders in this space.'
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
As AI Use Grows at Work, On-the-Job Training Lags, According to New National Survey
More than half of U.S. workers are beginning to feel the effects of AI on the job and in future career trajectories, but most feel unprepared BOSTON, March 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite a significant uptick in the number of workers and learners feeling the effects of artificial intelligence (AI), AI training has yet to keep pace, according to a national Jobs for the Future (JFF) survey conducted by AudienceNet. According to the survey, the percentage of Americans using AI at work has increased from just 8% in 2023 to more than one-third (35%) of respondents. Learners — respondents currently enrolled in education or training — are even more likely to use AI, with nearly six in 10 (59%) reporting use at least weekly. Despite this rise in use, relatively few workers are receiving AI training. Just 31% of workers said their employer-provided training on AI tools, and AI use appears to be largely driven by individuals. A majority of respondents (60%) report using AI primarily for self-directed learning. Nearly 1 in 5 workers on the job report tapping into AI on their own initiative. "AI should make us all better off by creating quality jobs, pathways to entrepreneurship, sustainable livelihoods, and opportunities to unleash human agency and potential," said Kristina Francis, Executive Director, JFFLabs. "With AI already transforming the future of work and learning, access to training, tools, and the opportunity to help shape this technology are more critical than ever—and we risk widening divides if we don't act now." Key findings from the new survey include: AI usage is growing on the job, but AI training isn't keeping up. The percentage of workers using AI has increased from 8% to 35% in just two years. But more than half (56%) say they still don't feel prepared to use AI at work. 57% of workers reported feeling some or a great deal of impact from AI on their jobs. The most commonly reported impacts include reducing manual work and automating repetitive or routine tasks. The use of AI is growing in the classroom as well. 59% of learners report using AI in their education or training at least weekly. In 2023, only 15% of learners reported using AI tools in their studies on their own initiative. 57% of learners report their instructors have incorporated AI in the classroom, up from 13% in 2023. AI use is being driven by individuals more than by organizations. Respondents' most common use of AI was for self-directed learning (60%). On-the-job, workers are twice as likely to be using AI at their own initiative (20%) than at their employer's direction (11%). One in twelve respondents used AI to start or grow a business (8%). Only 16% of respondents had access to paid AI tools from their employer or education institution; 10% of the general population and 15% of respondents of color said they were paying for AI tools out of pocket. AI's impact is beginning to influence workers' future plans for career and skill development - with the need to adapt felt more acutely by people of color and people with records. 77% of respondents said they believe AI will impact the job or career they expect to have in the next 3-5 years. While a majority of respondents—53%—felt the need to gain new skills due to AI in the next 5 years, this need is felt more acutely among certain populations, with 70% of respondents of color and 56% of respondents with records saying they felt they needed to upskill. 19% of all respondents—and 30% of respondents of color—said they are either actively pursuing different careers or considering changing plans in the near future due to AI-driven transformation. 19% of respondents said they have already used AI tools to obtain a better job. "AI is a powerful tool that creates efficiencies, but we also want to think about how we can augment what is uniquely human in a way that improves job quality," said Michael Collins, Senior Vice President, Population Strategies. "The challenge, and the opportunity here, is to support learners and workers to take advantage of AI technology, and to get smarter about their work." The new survey was conducted by AudienceNet between November 20 and 27, 2024, with 2,754 respondents aged 16 and above. To ensure a robust dataset, the survey oversampled specific populations — including individuals without a four-year degree, people of color, women, and individuals with records of arrest, conviction, or incarceration — who are often underrepresented in AI-related research. The data was weighted to reflect the U.S. population using the latest census benchmarks. JFF has developed a call to action to guide workforce and education practitioners, investors, employers, and policymakers to take steps to ensure that AI improves the quality of jobs, fosters entrepreneurship, and promotes economic advancement. To learn more and access additional survey findings, visit JFF's website. About Jobs for the Future (JFF) JFF is building a future that works for everyone by transforming U.S. education and workforce systems to drive economic success for people, businesses, and communities. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE JOBS FOR THE FUTURE INC Sign in to access your portfolio
