New Survey from Legion Technologies Finds Workforce Technology Is Improving Employee Flexibility and Operational Efficiency

Legion’s 6th annual State of the Hourly Workforce Report finds technology is helping employees get schedules that fit their lives and giving managers time back, while revealing opportunities to automate work that is still manual in workforce management

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Legion Technologies, a leading workforce management platform, today released findings from its 2026 State of the North American Hourly Workforce report. Legion surveyed hourly employees and managers across 11 industries, including retail, fashion, grocery, warehousing and distribution, and transportation. The research finds that workforce modernization is beginning to deliver on two goals that had long been seen as competing priorities: helping organizations operate more efficiently while giving employees greater flexibility. The findings also point to the next opportunities in modernization, such as using AI to improve manual tasks like scheduling, while giving managers more time to lead teams.

Across industries, employees and managers reported remarkably consistent priorities. Employees want schedules that better reflect their preferences, more control over when they work, and greater flexibility in accessing their pay. Managers want technology that makes it easier to create and adjust schedules, balance employee needs with business requirements, and lead their teams. The findings reveal a workforce that’s starting to see how modern technology is improving their jobs, with 40% of managers saying that AI makes scheduling easier, while 30% expect AI to streamline administrative tasks. Although concern about AI replacing a manager’s role is real and rising, it remains a minority view at 11%.

The progress comes as employers continue to face significant workforce management pressures. Staffing shortages and turnover remain persistent challenges, while many employees are seeking more hours than they currently receive or are considering leaving their jobs in the next 12 months. The research suggests that these issues are closely connected: better matching can help qualified, available employees access the hours they want while reducing the manual work required of managers to build schedules that work for both employees and the company.

“For years, employers have been working to give hourly employees greater flexibility while also improving workforce performance. This research shows we’re making progress with modern technology to help them accomplish both,” said Sanish Mondkar, Founder and CEO of Legion Technologies. “AI can manage the complexity of delivering flexibility at scale by matching employee preferences and availability with business demand. To earn trust in AI, technology must also be explainable, auditable and governed while also ensuring managers remain accountable and in control. When all of these pieces come together, employees get better schedules and access to hours, managers get more time to lead, and businesses get stronger performance.”

Key Findings from the 2026 Report

• Across industries, hourly workers prioritize flexibility in both scheduling and pay, and technology is increasingly helping employers deliver it.
  • 53% of employees say their top priority is control over their schedule, which ranks second only to pay, and 38% say early access to wages is a top incentive. On scheduling, 82% of employees say technology helps their manager accommodate schedule preferences. Managers see the same needs for flexibility from an operational perspective: 53% of managers say if they can’t offer flexibility, it leads to retention challenges. Delivering flexibility can help alleviate staffing shortages and turnover, which 51% of managers say are their biggest workforce challenges.
• Employees’ biggest fear about AI (that their job will be replaced) is also the clearest benefit (that AI allows better scheduling and more hours).
  • AI has the potential to connect employees with more of the hours they want, match employees to the right shifts, and ensure that shifts are properly staffed. This is good news for the 35% of employees who say they want more hours than they currently receive. In fact, employees who don’t receive enough hours are twice as likely to consider leaving their job within six months as employees who do receive enough hours. At the same time, 72% of employees want to be reassured that AI will not replace their jobs or reduce their hours.
• Managers are getting time back, but manual work remains.
  • As companies modernize, managers report spending less time on administrative work. The share of managers who spend three or more hours per week on scheduling declined from 58.5% to 51%, while time spent tracking attendance also declined from 52% to 45%. With less time spent on administrative work, 39% of managers say they would spend the time coaching and developing their teams. However, one major manual process remains: 49% of managers still fill open shifts by calling or texting employees individually, highlighting an opportunity to automate more routine work.

What Comes Next: From Modernization to Transformation

We believe that 2026 is an inflection point for workforce management technology. With modernization delivering measurable results, employers can build on that progress by using AI agents to handle more routine work, guided by rules established by the business. Managers remain informed about the underlying technical logic, can verify the reasoning behind decisions, and can step in if needed. This approach aligns with managers’ demand for visibility: 46% want AI to flag scheduling issues before publication, while 31% want an explanation of why a particular employee was assigned to a shift.

The full 2026 State of the North American Hourly Workforce report, including detailed findings and year-over-year comparisons, is available here. Organizations interested in exploring what the data means for their workforce can book a demo with Legion to discuss the biggest opportunities for their business.

The 2026 State of the North American Hourly Workforce report has been conducted annually since 2021. This year’s report is based on a survey of 1,044 hourly employees and 846 managers across 11 industries in North America, including retail, fashion, grocery, warehousing and distribution, transportation, and more.

About Legion Technologies

Legion Technologies delivers the industry’s most innovative workforce management platform, enabling businesses to maximize labor efficiency and employee engagement simultaneously. The award-winning, AI-native Legion WFM Platform is intelligent, automated, and employee-centric. It’s proven to deliver 13x ROI through schedule optimization, reduced attrition, increased productivity, and increased operational efficiency. For more information, visit https://legion.co and follow us on LinkedIn.