AI in HR
TL;DR
- 9 in 10 U.S. workers are using AI for work, a 25% increase year over year, and 3 in 5 are using AI for help with HR-related tasks.
- Employees increasingly report preferring using an AI assistant over a human HR admin with 38% of workers reporting that preference—up 26.7% from the year prior (38% in 2025 vs 30% in 2024).
- While interest in AI-driven automation has grown across nearly every HR function, some declined. The share of employers willing to delegate "offboarding" to AI dropped from 34% to 32%, and for "training and development," it fell from 26% to 23%.
Methodology
TriNet, a leader in outsourced HR for small and medium-sized businesses, surveyed 540 full-time employees and 500 full-time employers, working in the U.S. from companies with 5 to 500 employees in two separate but related surveys between June 30 through July 2, 2025. The survey featured around 50 questions addressing various workplace issues, including employee engagement, remote work, AI adoption, and generational shifts in workforce expectations. The survey was not targeted at TriNet clients.
Use of AI
AI has officially crossed into the mainstream of work. In 2025, nearly everyone in the U.S. small business ecosystem—94% of employers and 83% of employees—report using AI on the job. That's not just growth; it's normalization. AI has moved from novelty to necessity.
Three in four employees say they use AI for HR-related tasks, whether checking time off balances, exploring benefit options, or navigating onboarding. Yet adoption isn't universal across all functions. Employees and employers alike are pulling back slightly in sensitive areas such as offboarding and training—places where human context and empathy still matter most.
What's the Trend?
AI use is accelerating, but the curve is steepest in everyday applications. The biggest jump came from workers using AI multiple times per week—up six points year over year. This reflects a cultural shift toward AI as a routine collaborator rather than an occasional assistant.
In other words: AI isn’t just helping with HR—it’s helping at work. Employees are increasingly turning to automation for tasks ranging from document drafting to benefits navigation, with AI an invisible layer in the employee experience. The line between HR and AI support is blurring fast.
A Deeper Dive
Though employers still express concern about AI’s “human factor,” the skepticism hasn’t grown. Worries about empathy, data privacy, and accuracy remain steady and relatively low, suggesting AI has crossed the “trust threshold.”
Even so, the hesitation is instructive. Employers are learning to balance automation with authenticity—leveraging AI for speed and precision while preserving human judgment where nuance and emotion count.
Why?
Because AI feels faster, simpler, and safer.
The story is similar for employers—speed and reliability top the list—but it’s clear that psychological safety is becoming a silent driver of AI adoption. Workers want efficient answers, yes, but they also want judgment-free ones.
Employers Are Using AI More for Almost Every HR Task… Except for Two
While automation appetite continues to grow—especially for benefits administration (up from 26% to 36%) and performance management (24% to 33%)—there’s a stall in two key areas: offboarding and training and development.
In 2025, employers were less willing to hand these processes to AI. The dip signals that organizations recognize the emotional and compliance-sensitive nature of those interactions. Automation is powerful, but some exits and learning moments still demand a human handshake.
How Is This Trend Playing Out Among the U.S. Workforce?
AI adoption isn’t uniform—it’s generational. Younger workers, especially Gen Z, seem to be far more comfortable turning to AI for HR-related help than their older peers. For many digital natives, asking an AI about benefits feels as natural as searching online.
Baby Boomers remain the least likely to trust AI for interpersonal questions, while Millennials and Gen Z are leaning in. The data suggests that as digital-first generations dominate the workforce, comfort with AI will continue to rise—and HR teams will need to adapt their tone, tools, and trust models accordingly.
Use of AI by Generation on Certain HR Tasks
In Conclusion...
AI in HR is booming, but not boundless. The 2025 findings suggest we’re entering a refinement phase—where the question isn’t whether to use AI, but where it fits best. Employees are embracing AI’s convenience and speed, yet still drawing lines around human moments that define trust, empathy, and belonging.
For HR leaders, the takeaway is clear: the future isn’t AI or humans—it’s AI with humans. The challenge now is designing workflows that balance automation’s efficiency with the emotional intelligence that keeps workplaces human.
Future research
This research is just the beginning of exploring AI's impact on the workforce. Our dedicated team of researchers is committed to diving deeper. The current findings raise further questions:
Why is Gen Z less concerned about data privacy in AI compared to other generations, yet more concerned about data privacy overall?
When will sectors like nonprofits or Main Street adopt AI at rates comparable to tech and financial services?
Will benefits administration and plan communication be fully automated by AI assistants in the next year?
Download the Full Report
Get more data around AI. Explore workplace trends across AI, employee engagement, remote work, and more in the full State of Workplace report by TriNet.
The State of the Workplace report aimed to accurately reflect the small business economy as best as possible, with respondents across company sizes, industries and age groups.
While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, TriNet makes no guarantees regarding the completeness or applicability of the information to your specific organization or situation.
Qualtrics, a third-party provider, administered the survey and offered respondents incentives based on factors such as survey length, their panelist profile, and target acquisition difficulty.
The findings in this online report highlight trends within the small and midsize business community. This document contains a summarized version of the full report, which you can download in its entirety here. You can use filters to narrow the data by company maturity level, industry, and generation. As strong advocates for data democratization, we aim to make it easy for you to transform the data into meaningful insights.
Furthermore, this document is live and continuously updated. Our researchers are actively analyzing numbers, validating statistical significance, and publishing relevant insights. We prioritize timely updates, understanding the importance of speed, as highlighted by our data on AI usage. So, bookmark this page, or better yet, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Instagram to stay updated with new data and insights related to this work.
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