--- title: "60-Country Survey Reveals Workers Want Jobs Over Cash as…" canonical: "https://www.metaintro.com/blog/global-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026" language: "en" author: "laceykaelani" published: "2026-04-01T11:30:00.000Z" modified: "2026-04-13T15:13:52.931Z" --- [Back to Blog](/blog) [AI](/blog/tag/ai)[News](/blog/tag/news)[Information](/blog/tag/information) # 60-Country Survey Reveals Workers Want Jobs Over Cash as AI Reshapes Global Labor Markets A Windfall Trust survey of 1,000+ workers across 60 countries finds most prefer guaranteed jobs over guaranteed income amid AI disruption — and only 9% trust governments to manage the transition. [![Lacey Kaelani](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:40:40/q:72/plain/images/2934b90b-ca20-4439-bc56-71b4f5733545_1766029465094.png)Lacey Kaelani @laceykaelani](/blog/author/laceykaelani) [April 1, 2026](/blog/archive/2026/04)10 min read ![60-Country Survey Reveals Workers Want Jobs Over Cash as AI Reshapes Global Labor Markets](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:1200:675/q:78/plain/images/global-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026.png) [https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=60-Country%20Survey%20Reveals%20Workers%20Want%20Jobs%20Over%20Cash%20as%20AI%20Reshapes%20Global%20Labor%20Markets&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fglobal-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=60-Country%20Survey%20Reveals%20Workers%20Want%20Jobs%20Over%20Cash%20as%20AI%20Reshapes%20Global%20Labor%20Markets&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fglobal-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026)[http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fglobal-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fglobal-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026)[https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fglobal-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026&title=60-Country%20Survey%20Reveals%20Workers%20Want%20Jobs%20Over%20Cash%20as%20AI%20Reshapes%20Global%20Labor%20Markets](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fglobal-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026&title=60-Country%20Survey%20Reveals%20Workers%20Want%20Jobs%20Over%20Cash%20as%20AI%20Reshapes%20Global%20Labor%20Markets)[mailto:?subject=60-Country%20Survey%20Reveals%20Workers%20Want%20Jobs%20Over%20Cash%20as%20AI%20Reshapes%20Global%20Labor%20Markets&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fglobal-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026](mailto:?subject=60-Country%20Survey%20Reveals%20Workers%20Want%20Jobs%20Over%20Cash%20as%20AI%20Reshapes%20Global%20Labor%20Markets&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fglobal-survey-workers-want-jobs-over-cash-ai-labor-markets-2026) The global workforce is sending a clear message about artificial intelligence, and it is not the one policymakers expected. A sweeping new survey published by the [Windfall Trust](http://windfalltrust.org/global-dialogues-survey) in partnership with the [Collective Intelligence Project](https://cip.org/) reveals that workers across 60 countries overwhelmingly prefer guaranteed jobs over guaranteed income as AI accelerates job displacement. At [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com), we track how AI is reshaping hiring and career opportunities worldwide, and this research underscores a fundamental disconnect between what institutions are offering and what workers actually need to navigate the transition. The findings arrive at a critical moment. The [World Economic Forum](https://www.weforum.org/) and [International Monetary Fund](https://www.imf.org/) project millions of job displacements by 2030, yet the systems designed to manage this upheaval are being built largely without worker input. From India's tech sector layoffs to Southeast Asia's preference for public services over cash, this survey paints a detailed picture of a global workforce that feels sidelined by the very institutions claiming to help them. ## What Did the Windfall Trust Survey Actually Find? The [Windfall Trust](http://windfalltrust.org/global-dialogues-survey) survey, conducted with more than 1,000 respondents across 60 countries, went beyond the typical "how do you feel about AI" questions. Researchers asked workers who they trust, what kind of support they want, and what a meaningful response to AI-driven displacement would need to look like. The results were striking. When given a choice between a guaranteed income and guaranteed jobs, the majority of respondents chose jobs. This preference held across every region and every income level, including workers already in financially precarious situations. It directly challenges the assumption, common in technology and policy circles, that income support through programs like universal basic income can substitute for meaningful employment. Workers were not making a purely economic calculation. They were expressing that work provides more than a paycheck. It delivers identity, routine, community, and a sense of purpose. For job seekers navigating an AI-disrupted market, this finding validates what many already feel: that having a role matters as much as having an income. ## How Deep Does the Trust Crisis Run? Perhaps the most alarming data point in the survey is this: only 9% of respondents across all 60 countries trust their national governments to distribute AI's economic gains fairly. That is a staggeringly low figure, and it has direct implications for every government-led reskilling, retraining, or transition program currently being designed. The trust gap widens further along economic lines. Among respondents who described themselves as financially struggling, only 40% believed the economic benefits of AI would reach them at all. Among those who described themselves as financially comfortable, that figure rose to 59%. The people most vulnerable to AI displacement are also the least confident that any safety net will catch them. This distrust is not abstract. It reflects lived experience. When companies like [Tata Consultancy Services](https://www.tcs.com/) cut more than 12,000 jobs last year, citing AI disruptions and market unpredictability, the restructuring moved faster than any reskilling program could keep pace with. Rivals [Infosys](https://www.infosys.com/) and [Wipro](https://www.wipro.com/) followed with hiring freezes and reduced intake. Workers watched their industries transform in real time while the promised transition support lagged behind. *As*[*Metaintro*](https://www.metaintro.com)*CEO Lacey Kaelani told*[*CIO.com*](https://www.cio.com/article/4119562/work-from-office-mandate-expect-top-talent-turnover-culture-rot.html)*, "Some of the challenges CIOs face include losing top-tier talent, limiting the pool of candidates available for hire, and damaging company culture, with a team filled with resentment."* That dynamic extends beyond return-to-office mandates to any workplace transition handled without genuine worker input, including AI adoption. ## What Do Workers in Different Regions Actually Want? One of the survey's most valuable contributions is revealing how regional contexts shape worker preferences, even as the core demand for jobs over cash remains universal. In India, which provided the largest share of respondents, 60% believe AI will reduce the availability of good jobs. Forty percent expect their own roles to change fundamentally within a decade. One respondent captured the prevailing sentiment: companies prioritize profit, automation will accelerate, and the resulting unemployment crisis will spill over into competition for roles in non-AI-affected fields. India's experience is especially instructive because its IT services sector, long a global engine of white-collar employment, is now ground zero for AI-driven workforce restructuring. In Southeast Asia, 61% of respondents expect AI's economic benefits to reach them, but their preferred form of support tells a different story. Fifty-seven percent chose free public services, such as healthcare, education, and job training, over direct cash transfers. This preference held across every income group, suggesting that workers want investment in shared infrastructure rather than individual payouts. Kenya stood out as the most optimistic country in the survey, with 80% of respondents expecting to benefit from the AI transition. But Kenyan workers showed a strong preference for direct digital channels over traditional government institutions for receiving support, reflecting both the country's mobile-money innovation and a practical distrust of bureaucratic delivery systems. Togo's [Novissi program](https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2021/04/13/prioritizing-the-poorest-and-most-vulnerable-in-west-africa-togo-s-novissi-platform-for-social-protection-uses-machine-l), which rapidly deployed digital cash transfers during the pandemic, demonstrates what is possible when governments invest in delivery infrastructure early. ## Are Policymakers Listening to Workers at All? The evidence suggests they are not. When Adrian Brown, chief executive of the [Windfall Trust](http://windfalltrust.org/) and the survey's lead author, attended the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi earlier this year, the first major AI gathering held in a developing country, fewer than one in 10 sessions addressed labor markets or economic preparedness. The conference focused on investment, innovation, and regulatory frameworks while largely ignoring the workforce implications that matter most to the people AI will affect. This gap between policy agendas and worker priorities is not unique to India. Across the 60 countries surveyed, the pattern is consistent: the systems being designed to manage AI's workforce impact are not being designed with meaningful input from the workers they are supposed to serve. The survey found that what people say they need and what decision-makers assume they want are further apart than policymakers have so far acknowledged. *As*[*Metaintro*](https://www.metaintro.com)*CEO Lacey Kaelani told*[*Spiceworks*](https://www.spiceworks.com/it-careers/ai-certifications-what-employers-actually-want-in-2026/)*, employers need to focus on what workers actually need to remain competitive in an AI-driven market, including practical certifications and hands-on skills rather than theoretical credentials that fail to translate into job readiness.* For job seekers, this disconnect has real consequences. Reskilling programs designed without worker input risk teaching the wrong skills, delivering support through the wrong channels, and arriving too late to help the people who need it most. ## What Does This Mean for the Future of AI and Employment? The Windfall Trust survey points to a future where the success or failure of AI workforce transitions will depend less on the technology itself and more on whether institutions can earn and maintain worker trust. Countries that invest in preparedness now, before mass displacement arrives, are better positioned to absorb the coming shock. That means building delivery systems workers actually trust, offering the kind of support workers actually want (jobs and public services, not just cash), and designing transition programs with genuine worker participation rather than top-down assumptions. The [World Economic Forum](https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/10/education-disruptive-ai-workforce-opportunities/) and [IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2026/01/14/new-skills-and-ai-are-reshaping-the-future-of-work) have projected that AI could displace millions of jobs globally by 2030. But displacement is only half the equation. The other half is whether the jobs that replace them are good jobs, whether workers have a genuine pathway to reach them, and whether the people making these decisions are listening to the workforce they claim to serve. For workers navigating this landscape today, the data is clear: your instinct that meaningful work matters more than a payout is shared by the overwhelming majority of your peers around the world. The challenge is ensuring that governments, employers, and institutions catch up to what the global workforce already knows. ## What This Means for Your Career Whether you are in India's tech sector, Southeast Asia's growing digital economy, or any market where AI is reshaping job roles, this survey validates a proactive approach to career planning. Do not wait for government programs or corporate reskilling initiatives to arrive. Invest in practical, in-demand skills now. Prioritize roles and employers that demonstrate genuine commitment to workforce development rather than treating AI adoption as a cost-cutting exercise. And recognize that your desire for meaningful work, not just income replacement, is both legitimate and widely shared. The global labor market is being redesigned in real time. Workers who take ownership of their transition, building portable skills, expanding their professional networks through platforms like [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com), and staying informed about which industries and regions are creating new opportunities, will be best positioned to thrive regardless of what policymakers decide. --- ## People Also Asked **Q: Will AI replace most jobs by 2030?** **A:** Major institutions like the [World Economic Forum](https://www.weforum.org/) and [International Monetary Fund](https://www.imf.org/) project significant job displacement by 2030, but the picture is more nuanced than wholesale replacement. AI is more likely to transform existing roles than eliminate them entirely. The [Windfall Trust](http://windfalltrust.org/) survey found that 40% of Indian workers expect their roles to change fundamentally within a decade, while new positions in AI oversight, maintenance, and adjacent fields are emerging. The key is preparing now through skills development rather than assuming your current role will remain unchanged. **Q: Do workers prefer universal basic income or job guarantees during AI transitions?** **A:** According to the Windfall Trust survey of workers across 60 countries, the majority prefer guaranteed jobs over guaranteed income, and this held true across every region and income level. Workers view employment as more than a paycheck — it provides identity, routine, and community. In Southeast Asia specifically, 57% preferred free public services like healthcare and education over direct cash. This challenges the popular assumption that UBI alone can address AI-driven displacement. **Q: How can job seekers prepare for AI disruption in their industry?** **A:** Focus on building skills that complement AI rather than compete with it, such as critical thinking, complex problem-solving, and human relationship management. Pursue practical certifications that employers actually value over theoretical credentials. Stay informed about hiring trends in your industry through resources like [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com), and build a professional network that spans multiple sectors. Workers in the Windfall Trust survey who felt most prepared were those who had already begun investing in their own transition rather than waiting for institutional support. --- Future-proof your career in an AI-driven world. [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com) delivers daily job market intelligence, career insights, and hiring trends so you can stay ahead of workforce disruptions before they reach your industry. 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