Workforce trends for 2026

Based on global insights and local market signals, five key trends will define the future of work in 2026:

1. AI-capable talent becomes essential.
2. Early career pathways are reshaped by automation.
3. Organisations must address the rise of FOBO-driven technostress.
4. Life Sciences emerges as a leading growth sector.
5. Trust becomes a critical issue in an AI-driven workforce.

If there’s one constant shaping the world of work in 2026, it’s artificial intelligence.

AI now cuts across every industry in Australia, from how organisations hire and develop talent, to how individuals build skills and plan long-term careers. What began as experimentation has quickly moved into large-scale adoption, fundamentally changing expectations of both employers and employees. This creates a challenge of separating meaningful future work trends from short-term noise.

Which changes will genuinely shape workforce strategy?
Where should leaders invest time and budget?
And how can organisations stay competitive while supporting people through rapid change

Trend 1: AI-enabled talent moves centre stage

Summary: Demand is surging for professionals who can work alongside AI by translating technology into real business outcomes.

What’s happening

The fastest-growing roles aren’t necessarily those building AI tools, but those bridging the gap between technology and the business. AI-adjacent positions play a critical role in interpreting outputs, redesigning workflows and ensuring responsible use.

Examples of these skilled professionals include:

AI ethics specialists
AI UX designers
Prompt engineers

In Australia, however, adoption is uneven.

According to the Hays Skills Report 25/26, only 21% of professionals report using generative AI in their role, despite 52% of organisations saying they use it, highlighting a clear confidence and capability gap.

Where AI is embedded into day-to-day work, the results are encouraging: 86% of Australian workers who have used generative AI report a positive or highly positive experience, suggesting proficiency can scale quickly when barriers are removed.

What this means for Australian organisations

Australia’s job market for AI-adjacent skills is becoming more competitive and harder to define. Employers are already encountering:

Roles that don’t fit traditional job descriptions
Longer hiring timelines
Strong competition for adaptable, digitally fluent talent

In this environment, skills matter more than titles.

The latest Hays Salary Guide shows that 84% of businesses experienced skills shortages. The most significant gaps are in human skills, such as critical thinking and adaptability, rather than pure technical expertise. This reinforces the growing value of professionals who can work effectively with AI, not just around it.

What employers should do next

Adopt skills-based hiring: Focus on learning agility, critical thinking and digital fluency rather than rigid experience requirements.
Build confidence, not just capability: Practical exposure and guided use of AI can unlock rapid uptake and value.
Invest in internal development: Uplifting existing talent is increasingly as important as sourcing scarce external skills.

Trend 2: Automation reshapes early careers

Summary: Entry-level roles are disappearing, but early careers still matter more than ever.

What’s happening

AI is automating many traditional entry-level tasks such as data entry, basic analysis and content creation, narrowing early career pathways and reshaping how people enter the workforce.

At the same time, Gen Z is expected to work with AI before being fully trained to do so. While younger workers are often comfortable using technology, many lack confidence in applying AI effectively or ethically, and heavy reliance on AI risks weakening foundational problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

The Hays Skills Report identified 30% of hiring managers believe AI skills will be essential for most roles. Professionals, however, tell a different story with 58% saying they want to acquire new tech skills, revealing a disconnect between what employers value and what employees believe they need.

The Australian challenge

The Australian labour market already faces mid-level talent shortages across multiple sectors. Without deliberate investment in early careers, organisations risk widening this gap over the next three to five years. The challenge isn’t preserving outdated roles; it’s redesigning early careers to reflect how work is actually done.

Insights from our Salary Guide reported that graduate and entry-level professionals were among the least satisfied cohorts in 2025, with close to half reporting dissatisfaction. For early-career talent in particular, the risk isn’t AI replacing roles; it’s entering the workforce without the communication skills that automation cannot replicate.

What employers should do next

Elevate entry-level roles: Shift focus from repetitive tasks to higher-value work involving collaboration, judgement and creativity.
Build AI fluency early: Treat AI literacy as a core competency, not an optional extra.
Protect long-term pipelines: Early careers investment is a strategic necessity, not a cost centre.

Trend 3: Technostress evolves into FOBO

Summary: The fear of becoming obsolete becomes a workforce-wide issue.

What’s happening

Technostress isn’t new, but its latest evolution, FOBO (Fear Of Becoming Obsolete), is emerging as a significant concern.

As AI moves beyond automation and begins augmenting complex, creative and strategic work, many employees are questioning the future relevance of their jobs. While senior leaders may see opportunity, uncertainty at the workforce level can lead to disengagement, anxiety and resistance to change.

The Hays Salary Guide shows widespread skills gaps and declining confidence among mid-career professionals, reinforcing FOBO as organisations accelerate AI adoption faster than workforce capability is developing.

What this means for Australian employers

In a tight labour market, confidence and ability are retention risks. Without clear communication and structured upskilling, businesses may unintentionally create fear instead of momentum.

What employers should do next

Apply a digital wellbeing lens: Review whether technology is simplifying work or adding friction.
Upskill proactively: Build AI literacy across all functions, not just specialist teams.
Communicate with clarity: Be transparent about how roles will evolve and where new opportunities exist.

Trend 4: Life Sciences enters a growth phase

Summary: Life Sciences is positioned for rapid expansion, but skills shortages could slow progress, not funding or demand.

What’s happening

As activity increases across clinical development and product lifecycles, demand is rising for experienced professionals who can deliver trials, manage complexity and maintain momentum. This pressure is reflected in Australian remuneration data, where senior and specialist clinical roles are commanding strong salary ranges.

For example, our latest Hays Salary Guide reports that:

Senior Clinical Research Associates typically earn up to ~$110k
Clinical Directors and Heads of Clinical functions reach ~$180k–$225k

This signals both scarcity and the critical nature of these roles in enabling progress.

Implications for Australia

Australia is well placed to participate in Life Sciences growth, but execution risk is increasing across various sectors.

Regulatory Affairs: This sector experienced a shift from a supporting function to a strategic bottleneck. As portfolios expand, capacity constraints around submissions, lifecycle management and compliance can directly delay outcomes if not addressed early.
Medical Affairs and Market Access: These roles are under sustained pressure, as organisations seek professionals who can interpret evidence and connect science to real-world value. These hybrid skill sets remain in short supply nationally.
Nursing Workforce: The demand for registered nurses and mental health professionals is increasing nationwide, particularly in rural regions, driven by an aging population and the necessity for specialised skills in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry.

What employers should do next

Prioritise roles that protect momentum: Clinical, regulatory and medical functions should be workforce planning priorities, not afterthoughts.
Build depth, not just coverage: Developing specialist skills internally will be critical where hiring alone cannot meet demand.
Plan for flexibility: Contract and specialist talent can help manage peaks in activity while long-term capability is strengthened.

Trend 5: Trust must be rebuilt in the AI era

Summary: AI is enabling more sophisticated workforce fraud, raising the stakes for employers.

What’s happening

AI has made it easier than ever to apply for roles, automate screening and run remote hiring processes. In Australia, this has contributed to a sharp rise in application volumes but not necessarily in candidate quality.

The Hays Salary Guide shows that while employers are receiving more applications, they are reporting lower suitability of candidates, driven in part by AI-generated job applications and CVs, and exaggerated credentials. This volume-versus-quality imbalance is making it harder to identify genuine expertise and increasing the risk of hiring errors.

At the same time, high-quality candidates are becoming more selective. Many are choosing to stay in their current roles rather than re-enter a noisy, inefficient hiring market, which is prolonging recruitment cycles and intensifying competition for proven talent.

What this means for Australian organisations

As hybrid and remote work remain embedded, trust is no longer just a compliance issue, it’s a critical organisational priority. Hiring decisions are being made in an environment where signals are weaker, verification is harder and mistakes are more costly.

With strong candidates harder to reach and less tolerant of poor hiring experiences, businesses that rush processes or rely too heavily on automation risk damaging both performance and employer reputation.

What employers should do next

Strengthen verification processes: Balance hiring speed with robust identity, qualification and experience checks.
Integrate people, process and technology safeguards: Trust cannot be solved by tools alone; governance, oversight and accountability matter.
Design for resilience, not perfection: Hiring risks will continue to evolve; businesses need adaptable frameworks rather than one-off fixes.

Organisations that adapt early and modernise their models to promote better work-life balance will be better positioned for future challenges.

Preparing for the future of work in Australia

From the rise of AI-adjacent talent and the reinvention of early careers, to FOBO, Life Sciences growth and the urgent need to rebuild trust, technology is at the core of every workforce decision.

The winners in 2026 will be those who:

Move early
Invest in skills, not just systems
Support people through change, not around it

The pace of change isn’t slowing, but with the right workforce strategy, organisations can turn disruption into a competitive advantage to stay ahead of the curve.

Futureproof your workforce or career with support from Hays. Get in touch today.

Important note:
The information and opinions contained in this article have been prepared by Hays for general information purposes only. The information does not constitute advice and should not be relied on as such. You should obtain your own independent advice and form your own judgments.

Workforce trends for 2026

Trend 1: AI-enabled talent moves centre stage

What’s happening

What this means for Australian organisations

What employers should do next

Trend 2: Automation reshapes early careers

What’s happening

The Australian challenge

What employers should do next

Trend 3: Technostress evolves into FOBO

What’s happening

What this means for Australian employers

What employers should do next

Trend 4: Life Sciences enters a growth phase

What’s happening

Implications for Australia

What employers should do next

Trend 5: Trust must be rebuilt in the AI era

What’s happening

What this means for Australian organisations

What employers should do next

Preparing for the future of work in Australia

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