Microsoft and LinkedIn Release 2024 Work Trend Index on AI Use at Work in the Philippines

Microsoft Corp. and LinkedIn released the Philippine data of their global 2024 Work Trend Index on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace, with new findings revealing that Filipino knowledge workers use AI more than their global and regional counterparts.

The research, entitled “AI at work is here. Now comes the hard part,” is based on a survey of 31,000 people across 31 countries, labor and hiring trends on LinkedIn, trillions of Microsoft 365 productivity signals, and research with Fortune 500 customers.

“2023 will be remembered as the year of AI, but this year we will start to see real impact as we move from potential applications to living innovations. The current state of AI adoption in the Philippines is very promising. We’re seeing innovation at scale across industries through our customers, who are unlocking efficiency, personalization, security and sustainability by applying AI solutions to their challenges and priorities,” said Peter Maquera, Microsoft Philippines CEO. “In terms of the workforce, our 2024 Work Trend Index shows Filipino employees are leading not just Asia, but the world, in leveraging AI to help boost productivity, efficiency and creativity. More and more, the AI business imperative is becoming clear, but there are still opportunities to explore and imperatives to take. Microsoft is committed to empowering this broad transformation as we bring more advanced AI technologies and platforms to the world, as well as insights to guide our customers and partners.”

The Work Trend Index highlights what leaders and professionals need to know, one year since AI made shockwaves in the workplace and labor market:

Employees want AI at work—and won’t wait for companies to catch up:

• 86% of Filipino knowledge workers use AI at work, higher than the global average of 75% and regional average of 83%.

• The value of AI is recognized at the leadership level. 89% of Filipino leaders believe their company needs to adopt AI to stay competitive, putting the Philippines ahead of global and regional counterparts at 79% and 84%.

• Meanwhile, 55% of Filipino leaders are worried that their organization lacks a plan and vision for implementing AI. While this may be lower than the global and regional averages of 78% and 61%, respectively, there are consequences when demand outpaces the capacity of local companies to provide the needed resources.

• 83% of Filipino AI users bring their tools to work—Bring Your Own AI (BYOAI)—which poses privacy, security, and legal risks to companies. Globally, 78% of employees engage in BYOAI, and regionally, 79%.

Philippine workplaces can stay ahead by taking advantage of demand and investing in AI, equipping employees with tools and skills to remain competitive.

For employees, AI raises the bar and breaks the career ceiling:

• 70% of Filipino leaders say they will only hire someone with AI skills, a preference that is seen in 66% and 70% of global and regional leaders, respectively.

• However, a smaller percentage of Filipino leaders (68%) will hire a less experienced employee with AI skills than a more experienced candidate, compared to the global and regional averages of 71% and 76%.

• Because of the growing demand for AI in the hiring market, mentions in LinkedIn job posts grew by 17%, and 142x more users globally added AI skills to their profiles as of last year.

The rise of the AI power user—and what they reveal about the future:

• An AI power user can be defined as someone who uses the technology several times a week, saving 30 minutes of work daily. In the Philippines, 86% of power users frequently start their day with AI, while another 86% use it to plan for the next.

• Demand is high among AI power users in the Philippines. They are 52% more likely to ask co-workers what prompts they find most useful (40% for global users, and 65% more likely to experiment with different ways of using AI. (68% for global users)

• Filipino AI power users are more likely to hear from their leadership about the importance of generative AI—57% more likely from their CEO, 41% from their function/department head, and 107% from their manager’s manager. (vs. 61%, 40%, and 42% more likely for global AI power users)

While Filipino power users are increasingly interested in learning about technology, the Work Trend Index reveals that they aren’t being trained enough.

• Only Filipino AI users are 30% more likely to get training, especially on prompts (23% more likely) and using AI for their specific role or function (37% more likely). Globally, the percentage of AI power users likely to get training is 42%, and regionally, it is 36%.

“As the Philippines witnesses a transformative shift in the workplace due to AI, companies are realizing the need for a new talent playbook,” Atul Harkisanka, Philippines Country Lead, LinkedIn, said. “With how rapidly the talent ecosystem evolves, leaders who prioritize agility and invest in skills development to build an AI-ready workforce gain a competitive edge. 68% of Filipino business leaders will hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills, emphasizing the urgency and importance for professionals to focus on advancing their AI aptitude through upskilling. Meanwhile, our data shows a 65% increase in learning hours for the top 100 AI/GAI courses from 2022 to 2023 on LinkedIn Learning. A record number of learners took the top AI courses on LinkedIn since January 2023 across Southeast Asia, Australia, and India.”

Available Resources on AI Upskilling

Microsoft is announcing Copilot for Microsoft 365 innovations to help people get started on maximizing available AI tools.

• Better prompting through Copilot. The prompt box will have an auto-complete experience with better results based on human-written prompts. Employees can rewrite their prompts through Copilot to better manage their work meetings, documents, and emails.

• Copilot will become more conversational by suggesting follow-up prompts or asking clarifying questions.

• A new chat interface in Copilot will help employees catch up on work based on recent activity, such as flagging important emails or giving alerts like “You missed Tuesday’s sales meeting. Here’s a quick summary.”

• Updates to Copilot Lab allow teams to create, publish, and manage prompts that best suit them.

LinkedIn is announcing 50 new AI learning courses available for everyone for free through July 8 on top of 600 courses, plus other new AI tools:

• AI-powered coaching offers personalized content and conversational learning.

• For LinkedIn Premium subscribers, new AI-powered personalized takeaways on LinkedIn Feed offer you insights, ideas, and actions to take.

• AI-powered tools that make it easier to assess whether you are fit for a role based on your experience and skills, all in a matter of seconds, plus advice and suggestions for skill-building.

To learn more, visit the Official Microsoft Blog and the 2024 Work Trend Index Report, and head to LinkedIn to hear more from the company’s Chief Economist, Karin Kimbrough.