Your Best AI Talent Is Also Your Biggest Flight Risk, New Wellhub Data Shows

Wellhub's fifth annual global study finds the employees doing the most with AI are burning out at a higher rate, revealing a new challenge for HR leaders as AI reshapes workloads, resilience, and retention.

NEW YORK, November 2, 2026 — The employees most proficient and impactful with AI are also among those feeling the greatest strain, creating a retention challenge around some of the talent companies can least afford to lose. Wellhub's fifth annual State of Work-Life Wellness study, surveying more than 5,000 employees across 10 countries, finds that AI Pioneers (employees who have made AI a core part of how they work) are seeing the technology reshape their jobs in unexpected ways. While AI is strengthening their sense of job security, 40% say it has actually increased their workload, and nearly half (47%) say it has reduced meaningful interaction with colleagues. The findings reveal a new workplace paradox: greater AI fluency can bring greater confidence and resilience, but also new pressures that companies will need to address as AI becomes embedded in everyday work.

The AI Fluency Divide

AI adoption is no longer simply a question of who is using the technology. The data points to a widening divide between employees who have integrated AI into the way they work and those who are still trying to find their footing.

The report identifies three distinct groups based on AI Fluency. This measure reflects how confidently, consistently and effectively employees use AI in their day-to-day work, from early experimentation to integrating it into their workflows and helping others do the same.

• AI Pioneers (41%): AI is core to how they work. They coach colleagues and report the best job security of any group, but the highest daily burnout.
• AI Adopters (32%): Using AI regularly, still building full confidence.
• AI Beginners (26%): Haven't used AI tools or have only experimented, often with real anxiety attached.

Pioneers Are Absorbing the Strain

AI was supposed to lighten the load. For the employees most fluent in it, the opposite has happened: the more skilled someone is with AI, the more work has landed on them, and much of it is work nobody planned for.

• 40% of Pioneers say AI has increased their workload rather than reduced it, versus 15% of Beginners.
• 79% of Pioneers coach teammates on AI, adding an informal support role on top of their own responsibilities.
• 47% of Pioneers say AI has reduced meaningful interaction with colleagues, more than double the 22% of Beginners.

Support Shapes How Employees Navigate AI

Pioneers may be absorbing more of the strain that comes with AI adoption, but they also report stronger wellbeing and significantly more support at work. The data suggests that AI fluency and the support employees receive to navigate this transition are closely connected.

That support starts with clear expectations for how AI should be used. A strong AI policy is more than a document employees can find online; it means clear guidelines and guardrails reinforced through active communication and training. Yet 34% of employees say their company has no formal AI policy. Among Beginners, that figure rises to 44%, compared with 26% of Pioneers.

The difference extends to managers. 60% of Pioneers say their manager actively supports their wellbeing, compared with just 31% of Beginners, helping explain why Pioneers can experience greater AI-related pressure while still reporting stronger overall wellbeing.

Feeling prepared to use AI is also closely associated with resilience. 87% of employees who feel equipped to work with AI say they can adapt to change and recover from setbacks, compared with just 45% of those who don't feel equipped.

Clear organizational guidance shows a similar relationship. Where a company has a clear AI policy and communicates it, 77% of employees feel resilient and able to adapt. Where employees are unsure a policy even exists, that figure falls to 39%.

What's at Stake

Employees are increasingly treating wellbeing as a condition of employment. Eighty-three percent say they would consider leaving a company that does not prioritize their wellbeing—and that willingness rises with AI fluency, from 73% of Beginners to 84% of Adopters and 87% of Pioneers.

That creates a growing talent risk for employers. The workers with the strongest AI capabilities are also the most willing to leave when their wellbeing needs are not being met. HR leaders are already alert to the threat: 62% say they are concerned about losing employees with in-demand AI skills. 

What Comprehensive Support Delivers

Employees at companies offering Wellhub report better outcomes on every wellbeing pillar measured, compared to employees with another wellbeing program.

• 55% of employees with Wellhub report healthy sleep, nearly double the 28% with another wellness program, the widest gap measured.
• 67% rate overall wellbeing as good or thriving, versus 51% with another program.
• 76% feel able to adapt to the pace of change at work, versus 57% with another program.

“AI has enormous potential to make people and companies more productive, but technology alone won’t create sustainable performance,” said Cesar Carvalho, CEO and Co-Founder of Wellhub. “The employees leading AI adoption are taking on more work and are also among the talent companies most want to retain. As businesses invest in AI, they need to invest just as deliberately in the wellbeing of the people using it. The future of work needs both.”

Methodology

Wellhub conducted its State of Work-Life Wellness 2027 survey to assess the current status of worker wellbeing in an AI-driven workplace and examine how AI adoption is reshaping employee needs and performance.

Survey execution: Between June 12 and June 19, 2026, more than 5,000 full-time employees were surveyed online through the polling agency QuestionPro. The response pool included only workers 18 and older who have worked a full-time job in the last three months. Results have a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error.

AI Fluency Score: Each respondent received an AI Fluency Score from 0 to 9, built from three combined inputs:

• AI Usage: How respondents currently use AI tools (ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini), scored 0–3 from never having used one to using AI daily and coaching colleagues
• AI Comfort: Respondents' confidence with AI, scored 0–3 from feeling overwhelmed or distrustful to fully comfortable and trusting
• AI Reliance: Agreement with nine statements about day-to-day AI use and work dependence, scored 0–3 based on how many they agreed with (0 agreements = 0 points; 1–2 = 1 point; 3–5 = 2 points; 6–9 = 3 points)

Combined scores (0–9) sorted respondents into three groups:

• AI Pioneers (41%, n=2,077): Score 7–9. Use AI as a core part of their work and actively help colleagues adopt it.
• AI Adopters (32%, n=1,627): Score 4–6. Use AI regularly but are still building full confidence in integration.
• AI Beginners (26%, n=1,317): Score 0–3. Have not used AI tools or have only experimented.
   

Survey format: Response options included Likert scales, multiple-choice, and multi-select questions across 86 survey items.

Geographic scope: The countries included were: United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy, Germany, Mexico, and Romania. Between 500 and 505 responses were collected from each country. Where necessary, question sets and response options were adapted to reflect regional variations in benefit availability and workplace practices.

About Wellhub
Wellhub is how everyone checks in with wellbeing, every day. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York City, Wellhub is a corporate wellness platform connecting companies and their employees to a global network of gyms, studios and wellness apps spanning fitness, mindfulness, nutrition and sleep. Through one affordable, flexible subscription, employees can check in with their wellbeing in ways that fit their lives, while employers make wellbeing more accessible across their workforce. Every check-in also generates revenue for wellness partners, helping them reach new customers and grow their businesses. Over 60,000 clients across 19 countries use Wellhub, connecting over 6.2 million paid subscribers to a global network of over 120,000 fitness and wellness partners. Check in every day. For more information, visit www.wellhub.com.