Survey: GenAI can boost productivity, but comes with bigger workloads

KUCHING (Jan 27): Malaysian companies are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) faster than the global average, but many are still leaving significant productivity gains untapped.

According to the EY 2025 Work Reimagined Survey, 81 per cent of Malaysian employees actively using generative AI (GenAI) reported significant time savings, but 68 per cent said their workloads had increased, which could implicate loss of productivity gains to stress and burnout.

Conducted annually as a global survey, this announcement focused on the Malaysia findings, drawn from 300 employees and 30 employers across seven industries with selected comparisons to global results for context.

The Malaysian findings highlighted a critical opportunity – organisations should leverage strong trust in leadership to redistribute tasks and integrate AI effectively, for capacity optimisation and employees’ well-being.

The survey also revealed a gap between adoption and capability.

Although AI adoption was high, only 12 per cent of employees received sufficient AI training to fully benefit from its capabilities.

“AI is no longer a future concept; it’s a present-day productivity engine.

“Malaysian organisations that fail to invest in new skills risk losing hundreds of hours per employee each year.

“Companies should act now to expand AI learning opportunities to match employee demands, while balancing development of human skills, in order to boost efficiency and strengthen their talent proposition in a highly competitive market,” said Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd partner (people consulting) Anil Shivadas.

His statement was further illustrated by Malaysian employees sharing that opportunities to work with latest technology and AI had become the second most important factor in attracting them to new roles, overtaking traditional considerations like workplace location.

A total-compensation perception gap persists in Malaysia, with employers overestimating employee satisfaction by up to 25 per cent, the survey indicated.

Furthermore, while attrition intent had dropped, one in four employees still planned to leave, driven by demand for AI exposure and career growth.

“The survey shows that employees want to work with the latest technology and AI.

“This is now a top factor in career decisions. By combining fair compensation with AI-driven flexibility and personalised learning, employers can create an employee value proposition that resonates with the talents, keeping them engaged for the long-term,” said Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd partner and Malaysia people consulting services leader Low Choy Huat.

Nevertheless, Malaysia’s organisational culture had been evolving positively, as two out of three employees felt trusted and empowered by management, with 81 per cent feeling connected to their team.

The survey also stated that 73 per cent of employees believed that their organisation’s culture had improved, with innovation, efficiency and quality being the top cultural characteristics needed in the next 12 months.

“But without urgent action to close the AI skills gap, encourage experimentation and accelerate cultural adoption, companies risk losing momentum and missing the chance to lead in shaping Malaysia’s future-ready workforce,” said the survey.

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