While Hong Kong people are using artificial intelligence at a rate far above the global average, many employees still feel uncertain about how to reskill and remain competitive in an AI-driven workplace, according to a recent survey.
Released on Monday, the study was conducted by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School between March and April 2026. As one of the largest recent studies on AI’s impact on workplaces in Hong Kong, it collected 3,722 valid responses through a major online survey platform.
Over 70 percent of respondents said they use AI tools for work every day or every week, a percentage far higher than the global average of 31 percent, as reported in a 2025 KPMG study.
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Nearly 80 percent of interviewees who participated in the HKUST study believe AI has had a positive impact on their work, particularly by enhancing efficiency, productivity, and work quality. For some, their job responsibilities have expanded to include reviewing, supervising, and correcting AI-generated output.
The findings suggest that in Hong Kong’s workplaces, AI is increasingly being used by employees to assist them in their daily work rather than regarded an emerging technology on the horizon, and human-machine collaboration is becoming a new way of working, said Tam Kar-yan, HKUST’s vice-president for administration and business, who led the study.
Yet more than half of junior-level employees worry that AI may reduce the value of their existing skills, while around 40 percent feel that AI has weakened their sense of job security.
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Behind this sense of concern is the shrinking job market for younger people. According to statistics from Hong Kong’s Joint Institution Job Information System, the number of full-time job vacancies suitable for university graduates dropped from around 80,000 in 2022 to around 31,000 in 2025 — a sharp decline of more than 60 percent over three years, and the lowest in a decade.
Tam said this trend may be more closely tied to the broader macroeconomic environment rather than the impact of AI. He advised employees to use AI to help them with simple tasks while strengthening their core competitiveness — such as their ability to solve complex problems, think critically, and further develop interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence, as well as data literacy and analytical capabilities.
Meanwhile, despite employees’ strong interest in building AI-related skills, the survey also found that many have never received any AI training, and frontline employees use AI less frequently than managers.
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Tam said that successfully advancing Hong Kong's ‘AI+’ agenda will depend not only on accelerating technology adoption, but also on ensuring that no segment of the workforce is left behind.
To bridge AI capability gaps and equip workers with practical AI skills, the study suggests that companies should design more targeted AI empowerment training for employees based on their job functions, rather than provide them with general information.
Tam also believes that, compared with improving efficiency through headcount reductions, it would be better for companies to help employees redefine their roles and responsibilities — enabling them to focus on higher-value work in the AI era.
For local industries that currently use AI less, such as retail, trading and logistics, and hotels and tourism, he encouraged them to explore how AI can strengthen customer analytics, streamline administrative processes, and provide forecasting and coordination solutions, to support long-term industry upgrading.
