AI redesigns jobs, not cuts them: JLL study reveals business leaders expect workforce growth ahead

CHICAGO, July 14, 2026 – Despite concerns of AI-driven job losses, a new study from JLL (NYSE: JLL) finds that a majority of senior business leaders expect their workforces to grow (60%), not shrink (40%) – similarly, most expect AI to reinvent human roles (60%), rather than replace them (40%). JLL’s 2026 Future of Work Survey finds this picture is more pronounced among the most AI-advanced organizations, which are utilizing technology as a workforce augmenter and focusing on strategic expansion — even though they recognize it will not be uniform and some jobs will still be cut. Hence, more than others, they lean toward hiring full-time employees, investing in entry-level talent and actively redesigning roles to be enhanced by AI rather than eliminated.

The biennial survey, conducted from January to April 2026, offers a comprehensive snapshot of the state of work through the lens of the key priorities, challenges and strategies of over 2,200 C-suite and CRE leaders across 21 countries. The 2026 survey found that despite 78% of respondents expecting AI to drive significant changes to their real estate portfolio strategy, only 31% are actively preparing to redesign spaces for human-AI collaboration and just 15% have reached the optimizing stage of AI adoption. The gap between what organizations believe and what they are doing defines the central challenge of the moment and it is being driven by critical tensions in terms of execution decisions, capabilities and budget constraints.

While AI is generally expected to enhance human roles according to JLL’s survey, most organizations are still examining the impacts on their organization, which leaves them in early stages of adoption. A small pool of respondents (15%) is in the optimization phase, moving beyond the pilot and scaling phases to actively prepare for the redesign of roles and places of work. However, the majority are in the monitoring and analysis stages, with 46% focused on tracking AI trends and 40% analyzing potential impacts on their CRE function. These CRE leaders are depending on workforce decisions as it relates to AI adoption in order to define their organizations’ space transformations, creating a holding pattern that prevents forward progress.

“The public conversation around AI has been dominated by its impact on jobs and our research reveals that most companies are focused on the opportunities that come with AI," said Neil Murray, CEO of Real Estate Management Services at JLL. “Most forward-thinking leaders aren't just buying technology; they are investing in their people. They are pursuing a strategy of human-machine enhancement to create additional roles, boost productivity and drive sustainable growth."

AI is also requiring new skills and expertise from CRE teams for them to make an impact on their organizations, with skills gaps in AI, analytics and emerging technologies (36%) being cited as the top barrier in doing so in the next three to five years. Limited change management expertise (26%), organizational silos (25%) and measurement challenges (23%) further compound the problem.

This creates a "technology dilemma" that reflects the vulnerabilities of an increasingly connected and AI-driven business environment. Organizations must invest in advanced technology to achieve productivity goals, which is seen as a core CRE key performance indicator (KPI), beyond traditional cost metrics, according to C-suite respondents (46%). However, three of the top four portfolio risks are technology-related — including cybersecurity and data privacy (47%), technology/AI disruption (41%) and uncertainty around AI's impact on space (40%), with economic volatility and budget pressures (43%) being the other top concerns. This layering of competing priorities requires new, adaptive strategies to navigate a landscape where challenges converge.

"We are seeing a fundamental shift in what defines a high-performing company. It’s no longer just about market position, size and scale – it's about becoming an AI-powered enterprise with the adaptability and organizational readiness to transform effectively amid continuous disruption," said Peter Miscovich, Global Future of Work Leader at JLL. "Leading organizations are demonstrating deeper integration between real estate, HR, and technology to support their business strategies. These companies leverage data-driven AI decision intelligence to reimagine their workplaces for greater human performance and to achieve superior business outcomes. This fully integrated approach is the new blueprint for building a resilient enterprise that can thrive amid continuous disruption."

Nearly all organizations have clarified their office attendance policy and with productivity as a key priority among business leaders, there is increased importance of frontier workplace technology capabilities.

Critical infrastructure such as advanced technology and AI support (46%) and reliable technology infrastructure (44%) are the top strategies in achieving employee productivity, surpassing physical space elements like adaptable spaces (31%) or wellbeing amenities (24%).

This renewed focus appears to shift the CRE function’s attention away from cost optimization toward capability enablement, yet leaders simultaneously cite the costs of executing these preferences as top concerns: AI-driven workforce automation (39%), technology infrastructure requirements (32%) and energy escalation (44%).

This contradiction reveals three strategies for reconciling transformation ambitions with cost realities:

• Operational Optimization in markets or assets facing multiple constraints that will make transformation slow and uneven regardless of aspiration. When unavoidable costs materialize—rental rate increases, energy escalation, opex/CAM increases—organizations will cut discretionary investments despite stated preferences.

• Strategic Outsourcing when organizations recognize the gap between aspirations and internal capabilities—and choose to maintain strategic control while outsourcing execution.

• Capability Building for the leading organizations that will systematically resolve constraints before pursuing transformation. These organizations invest in upskilling, build change management capability, develop measurement tools, and strengthen cross-functional collaboration. They accept that some capability investment may prove misaligned with eventual enterprise strategy but create adaptive capacity for the future.

   

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