AI fluency emerging as a new workplace resilience advantage

British workers may be missing out on a growing workplace advantage as new research suggests AI fluency is becoming an increasingly important market of resilience, adaptability and preparedness for change.

The findings come from Zurich's Global People Resilience Study 2026, developed in collaboration with Oxford Research & Development Partners (Oxford) and based on responses from more than 11,000 workers across 16 countries, including 1,065 in the UK. The first of its kind study introduces a new Personal Resilience Index, a framework developed with Oxford to measure resilience and the factors that shape it across the psychological, physical, social, financial and digital domains.

Using the index, researchers found resilience rises steadily alongside AI usage, with workers who use generative AI most frequently reporting the highest resilience levels. This correlation remained consistent across all countries - even after accounting for factors such as age, income and education – suggesting AI fluency is increasingly associated with the ability to adapt confidently to change.

Yet despite the growing link between AI use and resilience, only 24% of UK workers report using generative AI daily, compared to 32% globally. The report warns that unless AI adoption broadens, the benefits could become concentrated among younger, higher-income and professional workers who are already more likely to use the technology, creating a new divide between workers equipped to navigate change and those left behind.

The findings build on one of the report's central conclusions: that digital confidence - especially with new technology, cybersecurity and adapting to new tools – is emerging as a critical component of workforce resilience. Digital confidence was highlighted as one of the strongest opportunities for the UK to strengthen its overall resilience, highlighting the growing importance of technological adaptability in an increasingly fast-changing workplace.

Professor Jan-Emmanuel de Neve, Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford and Oxford Research and Development Partners said:

"As workplaces become increasingly shaped by technological change, the ability to engage confidently with new tools is becoming an important part of resilience. Our research found that people who use AI more frequently also tend to report higher levels of adaptability, optimism and preparedness for change, even after accounting for factors such as age, income and education.

"While we cannot say that AI use directly causes resilience, the findings suggest that AI fluency is emerging as an important marker of workforce readiness. The opportunity for employers is to ensure that access to digital skills and confidence-building is widely shared. Otherwise, there is a risk that technological change could widen existing gaps between those who feel equipped to navigate change and those who do not."

New Personal Resilience Index highlights UK's digital confidence gap

The UK's overall workforce resilience score sits below the global average (4.04 vs 4.11), with one in four (25%) workers classified as "thriving" and one in nine (11%) classed as "struggling".

While UK workers scored strongly on solving difficult problems (4.12), being open to new experiences (4.06) and seeking creative solutions (4.06), digital resilience (3.59) emerged as the UK's weakest domain and a significant opportunity for improvement.

The findings suggest that helping employees build confidence with technology, cybersecurity and AI could play an important role in strengthening workforce resilience and preparing people for future change.

Resilience pays off at work

The study also found a strong link between resilience and workplace performance.

Among UK employees with the highest resilience levels, 88% report good or excellent job performance compared with just 53% of those with low resilience. Globally, resilience was found to be 2.5 times more predictive of job performance than income, suggesting resilience and has significant implications for businesses and employers.

Wider resilience challenges facing UK workers

Financial resilience was also identified as one of the UK's lowest-scoring resilience domains (3.61), with half (50%) of workers not having enough savings to act as a financial buffer if their income stops. Higher earners scored substantially higher (4.19) on the index than lower earners (3.92), indicating a significant resilience divide linked to income.

James Tait, Director of Zurich Corporate Risk said:

"For employers, this isn't really an AI story. It's a people story. The organisations that succeed in the years ahead will be those that help their employees adapt confidently to change.

"Our research suggests digital confidence is becoming an increasingly important part of workforce resilience, yet it's also where UK workers have the greatest room for improvement. That creates a real opportunity for employers to support their people with the skills, tools and confidence they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

"Building resilience isn't just good for employees. Highly resilient workers are significantly more likely to report strong performance at work, making resilience an important consideration for organisations looking to build healthier, more productive and more adaptable workforces." 

Notes to editors

The Personal Resilience Index (PRI) is a new framework developed by Zurich Insurance Group and Oxford Research & Development Partners to assess an individual's ability to adapt, recover and thrive through change. It measures resilience and the factors that shape it across five domains: psychological, physical, social, financial and digital resilience.

The Global People Resilience Study surveyed 11,175 working-age adults across 16 countries, with per-country samples ranging from 499 to 1,110. Respondents were aged 18 to 69 (mean age 38) and the sample was close to gender-balanced at 49% women and 51% men. Markets covered: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.

The study’s Personal Resilience Index assesses three dimensions of resilience (beliefs, capabilities and behaviors) and traits, resources, and capacities across five life domains (psychological, physical, social, financial, digital). The framework is informed by more than 130 academic papers and was developed in collaboration with Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford and Oxford Research & Development Partners. The Personal Resilience Index is a proprietary tool owned by Zurich Insurance Group Ltd© 2026.