AI was touted as a game changer for productivity – but employees are still saddled with growing workloads

While AI has been framed as a key tool for enterprises to reduce strain on workforces, so far the technology has failed to alleviate pressure – and a key factor is botched or lackluster adoption strategies.

Research from workflow management platform Wrike found many enterprises still face critical inefficiencies, rising workloads, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction among employees.

UK knowledge workers told researchers their workloads grew by nearly a third between 2023 and 2024. All told, they’re now spending almost four hours a month of their own time making up for hours lost attending meetings, duplicating work, and completing unnecessary tasks.

Business leaders reported a similar increase in workload pressure of 46% for their department or team.

This comes amidst a period of rapid AI adoption at enterprises across a range of industries, the report noted. But while more than a third of leaders said their work is AI-assisted and 80% of knowledge workers note the technology helps simplify their role, only 11% have integrated AI into their workflows.

Similarly, application sprawl is a major burden on productivity and efficiency, the study found. Almost three-in-five UK knowledge workers said they want fewer software applications to reduce inefficiencies caused by fragmented workflows.

And this seems to work, with 80% of business leaders reporting that consolidating work management software and creating a single source of information has made their organization more efficient.

"Our research shows that businesses are at a critical juncture," said Thomas Scott, CEO of Wrike.

"Organizations that take decisive action to prioritize impactful work, consolidate tools, and embrace automation will not only see increased efficiency but also happier, more engaged employees."

Poor productivity comes at a high cost

According to the report, UK businesses waste £12,206.27 per employee annually on unnecessary work, which accounts for nearly one and a half days out of every week.

Across the board, almost three-quarters of all knowledge workers agreed that placing greater emphasis on high impact work is an effective way to address inefficiencies - high impact tasks being those that contribute to the business' strategy, growth, and revenue.

However, knowledge workers believe just 54% of their work is high impact, with business leaders thinking the same of just 57% of their work.

Fewer than a quarter of knowledge workers believe their senior leadership is focused on aligning the entire organization around strategic priorities, slightly up on six months ago.

"Our research shows that there is less focus on AI versus a year ago and more on prioritization — but this pendulum swing hasn’t been effective. Rather than workloads decreasing with prioritization, the number of priorities has generally increased instead," the researchers write.

"To achieve optimal results, strategic AI usage and clear company-wide prioritization need to be focused on in equal measure, because the former supports the latter."

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