Workers Replaced by AI Would Demand Higher Pay and Greater Job Security to Return, SHL Research Finds

More than a third of workers have experienced AI-related job displacement firsthand or know someone who has

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A surprising new trend is emerging in workplaces today: employees who are replaced by AI, only to be asked back by the same employer months later. New research from SHL, the global leader in talent insight, has identified the "AI rebounding" trend, which is making workers more demanding, impacting more of the workforce than most leaders realize, and hitting younger workers the hardest.

While one in 13 (8%) workers say they would refuse to return under any circumstances after being replaced by AI, most rebounded workers are willing to come back, but not on the previous terms. SHL's research shows they expect terms of the relationship to change:

• 51% would want a substantial pay increase before returning
• 42% would want specific guarantees about their future job security
• 40% would want full transparency about AI’s use in their role in the future

SHL's Talent Mobility at Work in 2026: The Hidden Workforce report, which surveyed over 2,000 employed adults across the U.S. and the U.K., also highlights how widespread AI rebounding has become. Just over half (52%) of the survey group said they have encountered it, whether directly, through someone they know, or by hearing about it.

The trend is more pronounced in the U.S., where nearly one in five workers (19%) state they had firsthand experience, compared with roughly one in eight (13%) in the U.K.

Nearly one in four (24%) of the workers aged 18-24 said they've personally been AI-rebounded, and over a third (36%) are close to someone it's happened to, making it a common career experience for the newest generation entering the workforce.

"Organizations are making fast, sometimes myopic, decisions about their people based on an incomplete picture of what their employees can do with or without AI," said Lucy Beaumont, global senior vice president of product and design at SHL. "AI rebounding is what happens when a company automates a role before it has genuinely assessed the human capability inside it. The AI doesn't deliver, the gap becomes obvious, and the business ends up rehiring the same experts they just let go of, at a far greater cost."

A Workforce Employers Can't Fully See

SHL's research highlights a key factor behind the AI rebounding trend: employers make workforce decisions without an accurate and objective view of the behavioral skills their people already have. Fewer than half of workers (42%) believe their manager fully understands their skills beyond their job title, falling to just over a third (36%) in the U.K.

Meanwhile, 54% said their employer favors external hiring over reskilling or promoting the talent already inside the business. Nearly as many (47%) said they would rather be retrained for a different role than lose their job outright if AI significantly changed their current position.

"Underneath AI rebounding is a much bigger visibility problem," Beaumont said. "Most organizations don't have a reliable, objective gauge on what their workforce can do. Without that, AI adoption decisions become guesswork, which is expensive and erodes trust when it means exiting and then re-hiring the same expertise. Getting people decisions right is about using genuine data-driven insight into human capability, so the choices about what aspects of work to automate, and what to protect, are grounded in reliable talent intelligence rather than assumption."

A Workforce Ready to Adapt if Given the Chance

SHL's research shows that the workforce has an appetite and willingness to adapt. What’s missing is an accurate view of the skills available to redeploy or match to internal opportunities.

"AI Rebounding should be a wake-up call," Beaumont added. "It's an early sign that organizations going through AI transformations need to understand their people, and their AI readiness, well enough to know exactly where AI helps and where it doesn't."

Learn more about the survey findings in the SHL Talent Mobility at Work in 2026 report. To find out how SHL can help you set a new standard for skills development and workforce planning that benefits both employees and organizations, visit: shl.com/talent-mobility.

Methodology

SHL commissioned Propeller Insights to conduct an online survey of a nationally representative panel of 2,036 employed adults, aged 18 to 65 plus, across the United States (1,029) and the United Kingdom (1,007) in June and July 2026.

About SHL

SHL, the global leader in Talent Insight, transforms businesses by leveraging the power of people, science, and technology. Our unrivalled, scientifically backed workforce data and highly validated talent solutions provide organizations with the insights needed to optimally leverage their people’s potential and maximize business outcomes. We equip recruiters and leaders with people insights at an organization, team, and individual level, accelerating growth, decision-making, and talent mobility and inspiring an inclusive culture that supports game-changing agility. For more information, visit shl.com.