State of the Impact Employer

Employers are contending with the fastest pace of technological, demographic, and workplace change in decades. To uncover the priorities, concerns, and strategies shaping corporate workforce decisions in this environment, Jobs for the Future (JFF) commissioned a national online survey of more than 500 senior business leaders—including talent executives, senior enterprise leaders, and C-suite decision-makers from companies with more than 1,000 employees.ⁱ The results offer a timely snapshot of how leading employers are approaching workforce strategy amid rapid transformation.

The findings point to a business landscape defined by overlapping pressures: economic uncertainty, accelerating technological disruption, and shifting expectations for workforce development. Yet, despite these challenges, leaders across industries are signaling cautious optimism. Many are doubling down on building a skilled, resilient, and future-ready workforce, with notable trends emerging: increased investment in incumbent workers, a sharp uptick in AI adoption, and sustained momentum toward skills-based talent practices.

Business Confidence Is High — But Investment Hesitancy Remains

• Employers, especially C-suite leaders, felt confident in current conditions: 73% rated the economy as “excellent” or “good.” Yet that optimism didn’t always translate into action: only 30% of employers said they will move forward with new workforce initiatives in the next six months.

Retaining and Upskilling Incumbent Workers Through Short-Term Training Is a Top Priority

• Three-quarters of employers stated that employee engagement and retention were their most concerning HR challenges today.
• Nearly two-thirds of employers said upskilling their current workforce is a top investment priority over the next 6–12 months. Over half of employers stated that short-term, responsive training—including online and in-person learning—is the dominant mode they use to develop their talent and help with workforce planning (58% indicated online training is the top mode, 55% in-person training).
• Additionally, employers were twice as likely to address human resource challenges by investing in current employees as in new hires. Overall, they were less interested in longer-term structural workforce solutions like apprenticeships or college-to-career pathways than in short-term training for their current employees.

AI Is Transforming Jobs — But Leaders May Overestimate Readiness

• The hype around AI displacing workers wasn’t reflected in employer sentiment. Survey results showed that only one in five employers believe AI will replace workers; most indicated it will augment or reshape existing roles. Respondents also displayed high confidence: 81% of C-suite leaders said they’ve developed an AI talent strategy, and 85% believe their employees are prepared.

Employers Are Actively Investing in Skills-Based Talent Practices

• Across industries, employers have reported embracing skills-first approaches. Nearly 96% said skills-based hiring is important, and many are acting on it. The most common practices included evaluating employees based on role-relevant skills (54%) and expanding on-the-job training (47%) and performance-based advancement models (46%).
• There was also a focus on prioritizing manager training and competency-building to support this shift — signaling a broader transformation in how talent is sourced, developed, and retained.
• Additionally, employers rated human skills (and emphasized human-AI collaboration) as the most sought-after in hiring and as a focal point for upskilling their workforce (48% indicated human-AI collaboration was the top skill, and 45% indicated human skills overall were the top skillset they prioritized for talent development over the next 3 years).

Why This Matters 

Employers are not retreating from workforce investment—they’re reprioritizing. The data shows a clear shift: toward upskilling incumbent workers, adapting to AI disruption, and embracing skills-based hiring models. Yet much of this activity remains focused on short-term solutions, and employer confidence may obscure significant readiness gaps among workers.

This moment presents a powerful opportunity. Impact employers are ready to act, but many need support to ensure their strategies are people-centric and future-facing.

For JFF, this is a call to action:

• The future of work is accelerating, and employers are looking for trusted partners to help build resilient, AI-ready talent strategies.
• Short-term training must evolve into long-term mobility. Employers investing in scalable pathways—including apprenticeships, upskilling, and advancement systems—will build more loyal, capable workforces.
• Skills-based practices are gaining traction but need infrastructure to scale. With the right support, employers can shift from intention to impact and ensure that fairness and performance go hand in hand.

JFF is uniquely positioned to help companies turn workforce challenges into talent strategies that work—for businesses, workers, and the economy. To learn how JFF’s employer and workforce solutions can support your talent strategy and workforce planning, please contact us at employer@jff.org.

¹ Morning Consult conducted this survey on behalf of JFF between June 11-29, 2025, among a sample of 507 employers, talent management leaders, and C-suite/senior executives at businesses with over 1,000 employees, representative across gender, age, race and ethnicity, region, and education. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of +/- 4% points.