New IBM CHRO Study: Canadian Employees Worry AI Is Eroding Skills as Critical Thinking Gains Importance

• 62% of Canadian employees worry AI is eroding their skills
• 54% of Canadian employees and 55% of Canadian CHROs say critical thinking and problem framing are among the skills that matter most in the AI era

MARKHAM, ON, Oct. 2, 2026 /CNW/ — A new global study from the IBM (NYSE: IBM) Institute for Business Value points to a disconnect between the skills Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) say AI requires and those employees prioritize. While 68% of Canadian CHROs identify the ability to supervise, validate and override AI outputs as the workforce’s most essential skill, only 29% of Canadian employees rank judgement as important.

The study,* which surveyed 1,500 CHROs and 8,800 employees globally, finds that 62% of Canadian employees worry about skills erosion, with critical thinking cited most often as declining. At the same time, Canadian CHROs identify critical thinking (55%) and human judgement (49%) as among…