People & Organizational Performance Practice

The human side of

generative AI: Creating
a path to productivity
The number of employees who use generative AI is expected
to soar, freeing many to focus on higher-level cognitive work. Can
organizations use this moment to make jobs more people-centric?
by Aaron De Smet, Sandra Durth, Bryan Hancock, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, and Angelika Reich

March 2024
 Ever since OpenAI’s ChatGPT exploded into public — In any given organization, the pool of gen AI
view in late 2022, the possibilities of generative AI talent is likely broader than many leaders
(gen AI) have captured imaginations throughout the realize—and it’s poised to grow rapidly. This
business world. cohort isn’t limited to technical talent such
as data scientists, software engineers, and
When it comes to crafting an effective talent machine learning specialists, important as
strategy, organizations have focused mostly on how those roles are. In fact, just 12 percent of our
gen AI can increase productivity levels. This is respondents fall into this tech-heavy category
understandable, given the trillions in value at stake. of traditional gen AI talent. The vast remainder
However, it may not be the most strategic approach. of respondents, or 88 percent, are in nontechnical
To match the right talent to jobs, leaders first jobs that use gen AI for help with rote tasks.
must understand how gen AI is changing the way These jobs include middle managers, healthcare
employees view their work experience.1 workers, educators, and administrators, among
others (Exhibit 1).
McKinsey recently surveyed a cross-section of
employees as part of our continuing research into — Fifty-one percent of respondents in technical
how organizations can improve workforce and nontechnical roles who identify as gen AI
engagement, retention, and attraction (see sidebar, creators and heavy users of the technology say
“About the research”). Respondents provided several they plan to quit their jobs over the next three
intriguing insights that can help organizations as to six months. This is sobering news for those
they build gen AI talent capabilities. executive respondents in the survey who say
they want to build gen AI talent in-house; it’s
hard to reskill and upskill people when they are
looking to leave.

About the research — Although those who self-identify as heavy

users and creators of gen AI represent an
To continue to understand labor market trends related to in-demand employee group, these workers
employee retention, engagement, and attraction, we surveyed aren’t staying in jobs or attracted to them
12,802 workers—9,684 employees and 3,118 employers—across because of compensation. In fact, the survey
16 industries in Canada (n = 3,183), the United Kingdom (n = 3,227), shows that this group strongly emphasizes
and the United States (n = 6,392). We focused on two key flexibility and relational factors such as
subpopulations of interest for leaders; these subpopulations meaningful work, caring leaders, and health
represented 9.93 percent of the overall employee sample: and well-being over pay.
generative AI (gen AI) creators at 1.75 percent (n = 169) and heavy
users at 8.19 percent (n = 793). The other category—self-identified — Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly, heavy
gen AI light users—comprised 18.18 percent (n = 1,761) of the users and creators of gen AI overwhelmingly feel
sample, leading to a total of 28.12 percent (n = 2,723) of workers they need higher-level cognitive and social–
who self-identified as creators, heavy users, or light users. emotional skills2 to do their jobs, more than they
Nonusers were 71.88 percent (n = 6,961) of workers. We also need to build technological skills. As workers
surveyed more than 3,000 executives in companies across increasingly use gen AI to tackle more repetitive
industries to find out how they expect to close their organization’s tasks, the human-centric skills of critical
gen AI skills gaps over the next two years. The survey was thinking and decision making will become ever
conducted from July 28, 2023, to August 15, 2023. more important.

1
Generative AI is a form of AI that can generate text, images, and other content in response to user prompts. The technology differs from
previous versions of AI, in part because of the scope of outputs it can create.
2
Higher cognitive skills involve more complex thinking processes; social–emotional skills include effectively managing emotions, interpersonal
relations, and personal responsibilities.

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 2

Web 2024
HumanSideGenAI
Exhibit 1
Exhibit 1 of 6

Workers who use generative AI as part of their jobs comprise a much larger
group than those who hold traditionally technical roles.

Share of workers, by category, %

88%
Nontechnical employees
Examples (noninclusive)
• administrators
• cashiers
• customer care
workers
• educators
• healthcare
workers
• human
resources
workers
• managers
• nurses
• retail associates
• salespeople
• supervisors
• warehouse
workers

2%: Technical employees

12%
who are generative AI adjacent
Examples (noninclusive)
Technical employees
• data analysts
Examples (noninclusive) • data engineers
• developers • software developers • data scientists
• engineers • software engineers • machine learning specialists
• IT workers • system developers • researchers
• programmers • technologists • scientists

Source: McKinsey Talent Trends Survey, subsample of workers from Canada, UK, and US who are currently employed (n = 9,684); data collected July 28–
Aug 15, 2023

McKinsey & Company

These revelations have broad implications for In this article, we break down crucial segments of
employers as they try to attract and engage their workers who are at the forefront of gen AI usage
workforces. Organizations are on the cusp of or creation and dig deeper into the job factors and
gen AI pushing either positive or negative change skills they say they need. We then discuss how
when it comes to the nature of work. Leaders organizations can enhance productivity by crafting
have an opportunity to humanize that work by jobs that put people before tech—not the other
deciding where, when, and how their teams use gen way around. Companies that set a people-centric
AI so that people are freed up from routine tasks talent strategy will give themselves a competitive
to do more creative, collaborative, and innovative edge as more workers and jobs are affected by the
thinking. Gen AI talent agrees. changes gen AI brings.

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 3

The workforce: Who is in represent about 70 percent of the survey, our
the gen AI mix? expectation is that a majority of nonusers
If companies are to take advantage of the will become light or heavy users as the scope and
productivity gains from gen AI, they first must usage of gen AI changes.
consider the broad range of skills required for its
successful deployment across the enterprise.
People over pay: The job factors that
While there are many categories of workers who workers value most
can be described as gen AI talent, we focus on The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that for many
four distinct archetypes in our survey based on workers, what they want most from their work
gen AI use: experience has fundamentally changed. Employees
increasingly value relational elements such as
Creators: These employees help build the gen AI caring leaders and coworkers, as well as support for
models for their organizations and develop the tools health and well-being, more than compensation
and interfaces most of us use to interact with these (though pay is always important). In 2021, we saw
models. Creators (2 percent of employees surveyed) workers quitting in droves—in fact, 40 percent
tend to be predominantly software engineers, of respondents across jobs, industries, and
programmers, and machine learning scientists who geographies said they planned to quit their jobs
develop the tools and interfaces most of us use to in the next three to six months. That figure has
interact with gen AI. since dropped to 34 percent.

Heavy users: These employees use gen AI to help Certain worker segments, however, remain a greater
them perform most of their core tasks or to enhance flight risk. Of self-identified gen AI creators and
their work functions. Heavy users (8 percent of heavy users, 51 percent of respondents to our latest
our sample) include a wide range of workers, from survey say they plan to leave in the next three to
designers who use gen AI to expedite 3D modeling six months.
to data scientists who use gen AI to verify the
accuracy of their coding language semantics. Early creators and heavy adopters, in particular,
wield power when it comes to job choice and
Light users: Workers in this category use gen AI to shaping their careers. Many company leaders
perform less than 50 percent of their primary believe that workers in these groups are leaving
tasks. Representing about 18 percent of the sample, at higher rates because they can find better
they include middle managers, educators, and compensation elsewhere. Yet an examination of
communications professionals. For example, a the employee-value-proposition (EVP) factors
manager might use gen AI to create meeting notes that resonate most with these segments busts
or to help delegate tasks, while a teacher may use it the myth, once again, that compensation is
to innovate classroom activities. Journalists and a primary motivator.
writers researching topics might use gen AI to give
them a baseline of facts or to help write a first draft. Our survey shows that creators and heavy users
prioritize workplace flexibility more than total
Nonusers: These are individuals who are either compensation and that they are seeking a sense of
unaffected by or unaware of the impact of gen AI on belonging, care, and reliability within their work
their jobs. Examples in our sample include nurse communities. They stay in their jobs when they are
practitioners and healthcare workers engaged in given flexibility, and they leave when they aren’t.
direct patient care, as well as retail associates The other factors that make them stay are meaningful
whose primary role is face-to-face interactions with work, support for health and well-being, reliable
customers. Although these employees currently and supportive coworkers, and a safe workplace

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 4

environment. This experience is similar to what companies may not be getting the productivity and
most workers want, with one glaring exception: engagement they expect from these workers.
compensation appears much further down the list
(Exhibit 2). These EVP elements also play a big part in steering
workers into new positions. For the broader
McKinsey analysis shows that high disengagement workforce, the top four factors for why people take
and dissatisfaction rates can cost companies millions a job are similar to the factors for why they stay.
of dollars a year. Broadly speaking, addressing However, for workers who identify as heavy users
why workers stay or go is therefore paramount for and creators of gen AI, there is a stronger emphasis
companies as the use of gen AI grows. on relationships with managers and peers, and on
a sense of community more broadly.
When we dig deeper into self-identified heavy users
and creators who are staying in their jobs, we find Specifically, half say that reliable and supportive
that a healthy 72 percent report feeling engaged at people are crucial, and nearly half emphasize
work, compared with 63 percent in our total survey the importance of caring and inspiring leaders.
sample. However, a worrying 55 percent report Roughly two in five say that meaningful work and an
clinical levels of burnout, a much higher rate than that inclusive community are core motivators, even
of the global sample at 32 percent. In other words, above flexibility, which registered as of primary

Web 2024
HumanSideGenAI
Exhibit
Exhibit 2 of26

Creators and heavy users of generative AI who plan to stay in their jobs
prioritize flexibility and relational factors over compensation.
Top engagement factors for respondents who plan to stay in their current jobs,1 %

Workplace flexibility 40
Meaningful work 33
Support for employee health and well-being 31
Safe workplace environment 29
Career development and advancement potential 27
Reliable and supportive people at work 27
Adequate total-compensation package 23
Caring and inspiring leaders 23
Sustainable work performance expectations 21
Inclusive, welcoming, and connected community 18
Resource accessibility 15
Geographic ties and reasonable travel demands 15

1
Represents the share of respondents who selected a factor as a top 3 reason for staying in their current jobs (n = 475).
Source: McKinsey Talent Trends Survey, subsample of workers from Canada, UK, and US who are currently employed (n = 9,684); data collected July 28–
Aug 15, 2023

McKinsey & Company

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 5

importance to those staying in their jobs. In contrast important than technological skills, at 55 percent
to the broader set of workers where compensation (Exhibit 4).
is the third most important attractor, for this
subpopulation it again ranks seventh as a motivating Regarding social–emotional skills, two interesting
factor. People won’t come just for the money, and trends emerge. First, most technical talent
they certainly won’t stay for it (Exhibit 3). sees social–emotional skills rise in importance as
this group increases its usage of gen AI, while
nontechnical talent reports the opposite trend.
Most wanted: Cognitive and social– Second, creators who identify as technical
emotional skills talent report lower importance for social–emotional
As gen AI interaction deepens (moving from nonuse skills at a similar level to nonusers.
to light use to heavy use), we see a consistent trend
among both technical and nontechnical workers: Taken together, it appears that as workers become
they rate higher cognitive skills as more important more heavily involved with gen AI, their focus
than technological skills. Even among the technical shifts away from social–emotional skills, unless they
workers who identify as gen AI creators, higher are in technical positions. It may be that workers
cognitive skills, at 59 percent, are rated as more are unaware of how their jobs will change in relation

Web 2024
HumanSideGenAI
Exhibit 36
Exhibit 3 of

Jobs that feature reliable and supportive people, caring leaders, and
meaningful work are attractive to creators and heavy users of generative AI.
Top attraction factors for respondents who started their current jobs in 2015 or later,1 %

Reliable and supportive people at work 50

Caring and inspiring leaders 45
Meaningful work 39
Inclusive, welcoming, and connected community 37
Workplace flexibility 35
Support for employee health and well-being 20
Adequate total-compensation package 17
Career development and advancement potential 16
Sustainable work performance expectations 15
Safe workplace environment 12
Resource accessibility 7
Geographic ties and reasonable travel demands 7

1
Represents the share of respondents who selected a factor as a top 3 reason for taking their current jobs (n = 962).
Source: McKinsey Talent Trends Survey, subsample of workers from Canada, UK, and US who are currently employed (n = 9,684); data collected July 28–
Aug 15, 2023

McKinsey & Company

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 6

Web 2024
HumanSideGenAI
Exhibit
Exhibit 4 of46

Cognitive and social–emotional skills are more important than technological

skills across a number of categories for users and nonusers of generative AI.
Employees who identified
each skill as 1 of their top 2 Physical and Basic 30 29
manual skills 27 28 cognitive
skills out of 5 presented, skills
in terms of importance for
effectively performing
their current jobs, %

Nonusers Generative AI users

Social– Technological Higher 62

emotional 58 skills cognitive 58
skills skills

46

36

26

Breakdown, by type of generative AI user, selected skills Technical workers Nontechnical workers

Social–emotional skills Technological skills Higher cognitive skills

25 68 72
Nonusers Nonusers Nonusers
62 21 56

27 70 70
Light users Light users Light users
54 33 64

37 52 69
Heavy users Heavy users Heavy users
43 24 55

20 55 59
Creators Creators Creators
28 36 55

Source: McKinsey Talent Trends Survey, subsample of workers from Canada, UK, and US who are currently employed (n = 9,684); data collected July 28–
Aug 15, 2023

McKinsey & Company

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 7

to managing and interacting with other people, given the spread of worker archetypes in
particularly regarding the importance of developing organizations and the workforce more broadly,
crucial social–emotional skills. some subpopulations, such as programmers
and software engineers, may be best brought in
through hiring while other types of workers,
The disconnect: Employers want to such as associates and customer experience
build gen AI talent mostly in-house specialists, will benefit more from upskilling and
Many companies are striving for the most effective reskilling to bridge the gap.
way to solve the supply–demand issue when it
comes to gen AI talent. Our survey of executives The problem is that if companies want to build gen
found that most organizations plan to build AI skills with the employees they already have,
their gen AI capabilities internally, through upskilling, they need to retain the very people who, according
reskilling, and redeploying talent, more than by to the survey, have indicated that they plan to
external hiring and contracting (Exhibit 5). Naturally, leave in the next three to six months.

Web 2024
HumanSideGenAI
Exhibit
Exhibit 5 of56

More employers expect to close generative AI skills gaps internally.

Action taken to increase generative AI talent within workforce, % (n = 3,1121)

Upskilling 28

57%
In-house
capability
building

Reskilling 23

Redeploying 6

19 Hiring
30%
Externally
driven
capability
11 Contracting building

N/A 10

Don’t know 3

A total of 3,112 out of 3,118 employers provided responses regarding their generative AI skills strategies.
1

Source: McKinsey Talent Trends Survey, subsample of employers from Canada, UK, and US (n = 3,118); data collected July 28–Aug 15, 2023

McKinsey & Company

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 8

There is little doubt that gen AI can
help increase individual and workforce
productivity; it may automate up to
30 percent of business activities across
occupations by 2030.

This gap between what employees say they want in Leaders should explore answers to three
a job and what employers are willing to offer them fundamental questions about their workforces in
has been central to the workplace experience since light of the impact of gen AI:
the pandemic erupted. Our talent trends research
has found that employees consistently want flexibility How can we reimagine jobs to be more human-
and meaningful work, and they want to feel valued centric? Begin by defining which tasks people should
and engaged. do, which tasks gen AI can do, and how humans
should manage other people as well as gen AI usage
When mapping self-identified heavy users and itself. Technological skills such as coding will be
creators of gen AI onto which EVP factors matter the baseline for many jobs, but social–emotional
most, we see that their emphasis on relational skills and higher cognitive skills will be the
factors is largely the same as in our broader survey differentiators for creative, collaborative work in
sample. The need to care for family shows the the future. Perhaps this means more in-office
largest increase in importance, while compensation meetings or other ways for people to engage in
registers the largest decrease. the most productive ways they can.

Additionally, feeling valued by a manager, having Workers who perform at high levels and inspire
access to development opportunities, and doing others—we call them “thriving stars”—help spur
meaningful work also show a notable increase collaboration, innovation, and better decision making.
in importance. Advancement opportunities, on the However, they make up as little as 4 percent of
other hand, are not as highly valued, suggesting organizations. Their scarcity makes it particularly
that there are some unique conditions to being in a important to place these employees in positions
highly technical job, either through the creation of that will boost overall performance.
gen AI or through its heavy use (Exhibit 6).
How can we redefine flexibility? As jobs change,
companies will need to look at worker outcomes
How leaders can close the gap according to the results achieved, not by hours
There is little doubt that gen AI can help increase spent. The benchmark for output will have to shift.
individual and workforce productivity; McKinsey For instance, some written code may be
research suggests it may well automate up to longer, but it may not necessarily be better or
30 percent of business activities across occupations more user friendly.
by 2030.

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 9

Web 2024
GAGA-HumanSideGenAI
Exhibit 6a of 6 — ALL-IN-ONE (FOR ARTICLE DOWNLOADABLE PDF)
Exhibit 6

There is a disconnect between employers and employees regarding which

factors of the employee value proposition matter most.
Factors that employees believe are important compared with those that employers think are
important (n = 12,802)

More important to employees As important to employees Less important to employees

than employers appreciate as employers think than employers think

Looking for
a better job
+2
Gen AI workers1
Most Delta
important All workers
Valued by Potential for
organization advancement
Poached by
another company
+1
Valued by Work–life
manager balance
Somewhat Sense of Care for
important Development family Inadequate compensation
belonging
opportunities Feel Ability
engaged Flexible to work
Meaningful work at work work remotely
Employees 0
Caring and schedule
trusting teammates
Unmanageable Poor health
workload
Negative
interactions
Safe Ability to work
environment autonomously
Less –1
important
Living in
Access to desirable
technology location
Starting a
business

–2

–2 –1 0 +1 +2
Less Somewhat Most
important important important
Employers

1
Sample comprising employees (n = 962) who use generative AI (gen AI), which includes heavy users (those who use gen AI to perform most core tasks, n = 793)
and gen AI creators (those who help build gen AI machine learning models for their organizations, n = 169).
Source: McKinsey Talent Trends Survey of employees (n = 9,684) and employers (n = 3,118) from Canada, UK, and US; data collected July 28–Aug 15, 2023

McKinsey & Company

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 10

With the potential for gen AI to help make jobs more She used to send questions to executives ahead of
efficient, could an employee’s meaningful work in time and then schedule a series of interviews,
a given week be completed in as little as 20 hours? which would take several weeks to complete. Now,
And if that’s the case, is the 40-hour workweek she can feed their recorded interviews into
still the benchmark? Rather than filling hours with a gen AI chatbot and get a synthesis of their
tasks to get to a specific number in a given week, remarks in seconds.
companies can focus on ways to emphasize
the distinctive, creative part of a job that makes it The communications expert will still review and edit
meaningful. Jobs that create the space for that text, but the overall process is much faster.
the human touch can also help facilitate a more Whereas before she spent 60 percent of her time
engaged and more productive workforce. synthesizing material, that task now takes only
10 percent of her time, freeing up bandwidth to think
How do we emphasize the right kind of listening? strategically about the message the speech is
This is a basic concept that many organizations intended to convey and what form of communication
seem to have trouble embracing: talking with would be most effective. She may also have more
employees rather than leading by assumption. time to deepen relationships with industry reporters,
Creating a constantly evolving dialogue can which could benefit coverage of the company, and
help with both problem-solving and morale. This to help the chief human resources officer write that
is particularly relevant as the gen AI talent book she has been eager to start.
pool expands.
This gen-AI-related efficiency gain leads to
Survey respondents overwhelmingly express increased productivity, more innovative thinking,
enthusiasm about the integration of gen AI into their and welcome face time with key constituencies—
workplaces, though approximately 4 percent say good for the employee, her team, and the
they are concerned about job displacement (rising organization. The value she adds to the job is
to 7 percent for workers aged 18 to 24). This now fundamentally different.
undercurrent of worry presents an opportunity for
leaders to engage workers about the potential
changes gen AI will bring. Managing people, managing gen AI
Now, consider a middle manager at a technology
To illustrate how these shifts apply to the workforce company who identifies as a nontechnical creator of
today, we offer two examples of nontechnical gen AI. Currently, middle managers report spending
gen AI talent: a communications specialist and almost half of their time on individual-contributor
a middle manager. and administrative tasks and only about a quarter
of their time on people-related activities. In a
gen-AI-enabled world, they could significantly
More time for innovation and reduce the number of hours spent on non-people-
collaboration related activities and reallocate that time toward
A communications specialist in a large corporation supporting direct reports and engaging in broader
is currently a heavy user of gen AI. Her job has strategy concerns.
involved interviewing C-suite executives and
synthesizing their ideas to create speeches, talking As teams start using gen AI to help free up their
points, emails, and other communications for capacity, the middle manager’s job will evolve to
both internal and external audiences. Her managing both people and the use of this technology
performance has been measured by how many to enhance their output. In other words, gen AI
discrete communications she facilitates and the will become another member of the team to be
quality of the copy that is produced. managed. And just like a direct report who needs

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 11

 some intensive coaching to get up to speed, The employer–employee disconnect has led to
Find more content like this on the
gen AI may need more guidance and involvement high levels of workforce discontent, which is
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from managers—at least initially and perhaps affecting workers at the forefront of the gen AI push
for much longer. even more dramatically when it comes to burnout
and attrition. Companies that want to capitalize on
Lastly, a core part of the manager’s role will be to gen-AI-fueled productivity gains have an
ensure the humanization of work. As the nature opportunity to address this rapidly expanding
of tasks and time spent change, and the focus shifts group’s concerns about the nature of work.
from process oriented to results oriented, managers Those that emphasize the importance of human
will be a decisive factor in whether an organization skills over a simple race for increased output
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allows gen AI to elevate people’s work. Keeping a are likely to earn the loyalty of their workforces
finger on the pulse of their teams raises the and higher performance over the long term.
likelihood that managers will do their part to create
jobs that are less abstract and disconnected
and more fulfilling and collaborative. To prepare
people, managers can encourage employees
to recognize the centrality of their insights and
creative contributions with respect to the broader
organization as gen AI use evolves.

Aaron De Smet is a senior partner in McKinsey’s New Jersey office; Sandra Durth is a partner in the Cologne office; Bryan
Hancock is a partner in the Washington, DC, office; Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi is a research science expert in the New York
office; and Angelika Reich is an alumna of the Vienna office.

The authors wish to thank Yueyang Chen and James Paguay for their contributions to this article.

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Copyright © 2024 McKinsey & Company. All rights reserved.

The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity 12