Workday said demand for basic AI skills peaked in January. Then it fell 25%.
Workday published its Global Workforce Report on Monday, built on data from 550 enterprise employers between September 2025 and July 2026.
Demand for basic AI skills such as simple prompting rose through late 2025, peaked in January 2026 and then fell 25%, the company said.
Demand for hands-on skills rose 51% between September 2025 and July 2026. That includes building AI tools and automating workflows, as well as AI engineering.
In a survey of 6,001 employees and business leaders, 40% of leaders said they expect AI to get more out of the people they already have, and 28% expect it to cut headcount. In a separate September survey of 6,000 full-time employees, 79% said they know which skills they need, and 66% said their employer helps them build those skills.
Workday sells HR software, and this is its own research.
The peak and the fall sit about six months apart. The report does not say what its demand measure counts, or how large the base was that rose 51%.
How much of your AI training went to basic prompting, and how much to building tools?
Sources
Our file on Workday
- 8 Oct
SAP agreed to buy HR startup TechWolf. Rivals Workday and ServiceNow had backed it.
- 30 Sept
Workday cut 500 technology employees and lowered its earnings outlook.
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