AI is Giving You an Hour a Day. Where Did It Go?

Generative AI promises employees an hour back each day. An hour each day for strategy, learning, or work that actually matters. Yet in most organizations, that hour disappears. It is quietly absorbed into more tasks, additional reporting, and rising expectations. Efficiency exists, but opportunity rarely does. For talent leaders, this creates a clear risk. AI may accelerate output, but without intentional leadership, engagement and retention can suffer.

The One-Hour Mirage

Adecco Group’s 2024 Global Workforce of the Future Survey found that employees using AI save an average of one hour per day. That could mean five hours a week of reclaimed energy—time to innovate, to learn, or to focus on high-value projects. In practice, much of that time is absorbed by more tasks, meetings, and reporting. Efficiency alone does not create meaningful space. Leaders who treat AI as permission for more work risk faster employees who are disengaged and potential turnover, a key signal for recruiters monitoring talent retention.

Reclaiming Time as Influence

Some employees are beginning to reclaim those minutes. They spend AI-driven time learning, refining projects, or investing in high-impact work previously sidelined. Organizations experimenting with policies that allow employees to dedicate saved time to professional growth are seeing a correlation with higher engagement and satisfaction. The lesson for recruiters and talent leaders is clear. Technology alone does not reshape work. Culture, expectations, and leadership decisions determine whether AI frees or drains your workforce.

Leadership at a Crossroads

The next frontier of AI adoption is not the technology itself. It is leadership. Will leaders treat efficiency as a tool for innovation or a justification for more output? Organizations that empower employees, remove low-value tasks, and strategically invest time in high-impact work gain a stronger, more resilient workforce. Those that do not risk disengagement, turnover, and a culture that measures speed over impact.

Time as a Strategic Asset

AI’s value is not measured in tasks completed faster. Its promise is measured in what that reclaimed time enables. Leaders who recognize time as a finite, strategic resource will define the future of work. Efficiency without intentionality is hollow. Purposeful use of time, allocated to impact, development, and influence, is the true marker of organizational success and a critical lever for attracting and retaining top talent.

Source

Adecco Group. “AI Saves Employees an Average of One Hour Each Day.” Adecco Group Global Workforce of the Future Survey, 2024, www.adeccogroup.com/our-group/media/press-releases/ai-saves-workers-an-average-of-one-hour-each-day.