Most workers expect AI layoffs as workplace stress and distrust grow

• Key Insight: Learn how AI anxiety is reshaping workplace wellbeing and operational risk management.  
• What's at Stake: Rising AI-driven expectations may increase attrition, productivity loss, and compliance exposure.   
• Supporting Data: 69% of employees expect company layoffs due to AI within three years.  Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

Workers increasingly fear AI will replace their jobs, and some are turning to substance use to cope, a new study finds. 

Those concerns, combined with an erosion of workplace trust and a toxic political climate, are driving a level of strain "that's no longer sustainable," says Alison Borland, chief people and strategy officer at Modern Health. 

"It's starting to show up in very visible ways. Simultaneously, expectations are rising, and many employees don't feel supported. That imbalance is manifesting in concerning levels of anxiety and unhealthy coping mechanisms." 

Modern Health's newest workplace report, which is based on a survey of 1,000 full-time U.S. employees at large companies, shows that 69% of respondents believe AI will lead to layoffs at their own company within three years. Almost half of workers are worried AI will take their job, ranking it as one of the survey's biggest stressors. 

Those concerns are not unfounded. A recent report by Goldman Sachs, titled "How Will AI Affect the US Labor Market?", found that the timeline for firms to adopt AI on a wide scale is around 10 years, and six to seven percent of workers will be displaced during that transition period. In the U.S., AI could potentially automate tasks that account for 25% of all work hours.

The report from Goldman Sachs also points that AI could boost productivity as workers use it to do more in less time. But even that is putting more pressure on employees, Modern Health's survey found. 

Read more: How AI is fixing the benefit literacy gap

Roughly two-thirds of workers say AI has raised expectations at work, and most of them say it's making things more stressful. The squeeze is even stronger for senior managers, with 80% feeling the pressure, compared to 40% of other employees. 

Trust in employers drops, substance use on the rise

While most workers describe their employer-sponsored mental health benefits as adequate, only 33% strongly agree that their employer values their mental health — down 8 percentage points from 2025. 

That breakdown in trust means that workers are less likely to reach out to HR when they need help. In fact, 58% say they feel safer talking to a chatbot about their mental health than their workplace HR department, up from 50% in 2025. 

Read more: Employers see 507% ROI from behavioral healthcare, new study shows

"It's hard to have human conversations about things that are sensitive," says Dr. Jessica Watrous, chief clinical officer at Modern Health. "And the irony of that is sometimes the human conversation is the thing we need to have." 

Meanwhile, 65% of respondents say they have hidden mental health struggles to avoid appearing weak — up nine points year over year. Some workers are turning to drugs and alcohol to cope with these struggles, the survey found. 

Nearly two-thirds report using alcohol, THC/marijuana or unprescribed pharmaceutical drugs during the last year to relieve stress at the end of the workday. Fifty-two percent used substances to cope with stress during the workday itself. 

Among Gen Z, THC products have surpassed alcohol as a way to manage stress after work: 59% use cannabis products versus 50% who use alcohol. 

"Although we can't identify ongoing patterns of use from these data, it's concerning to see so many respondents report using alcohol or drugs to cope with stress," Watrous says. "Research has demonstrated that why you drink — perhaps to counter negative emotions — can be a risk factor for long-term problems. 

"When a majority of employees report turning to substances to manage stress, it points to a gap in how people are accessing support and building healthier coping strategies. Over time, that gap, and what people use instead, can inevitably lead to more complex health needs and higher-cost interventions."