Workforce Decoded 2026
The Verification Gap: When AI Makes Skills Harder to Prove
Insights From More Than 3,100 U.S. Hiring Professionals
AI Is Changing How Employers Evaluate Talent
WGU’s second annual Workforce Decoded survey finds that AI is changing both the skills employers need and how they determine whether candidates actually have them. At the same time, employers are placing greater value on degrees, certificates and practical experience.
Get the Complete Employer Perspective
Download the full Workforce Decoded 2026 Annual Report for additional data, employer insights and workforce trends.
Driving The News
60%
say AI is making it harder to evaluate candidates’ real skills.
73%
say degrees are important, up from 68% in 2025.
91%
view certificates as valuable indicators of readiness, up from 86% in 2025.
AI Is Making Skills Harder to Verify
AI can help candidates produce polished resumes, portfolios and written work, making it more difficult for employers to determine what candidates can do independently.
Nearly one in five employers now cite difficulty confirming whether they are interviewing a human rather than AI, while the share still figuring out how to evaluate AI skills has doubled since 2025.
Employers Are Rethinking How They Evaluate Talent
Employers continue to use interviews, skills assessments and real-world experience to evaluate candidates, but the rapid adoption of AI is putting greater pressure on those traditional signals.
AI Is Changing What Employers Can Verify
AI is outpacing the methods employers use to verify skills. As a result, employers experiencing the greatest difficulty validating skills are reducing entry-level hiring.
Quick Takeaways
60%
say AI makes candidates’ real skills harder to evaluate.
54%
who say AI has made skills harder to evaluate and are cutting entry-level hiring.
1 in 5
cite difficulty confirming whether they are interviewing a human rather than AI.
32%
are still figuring out how to evaluate AI skills, up from 16% in 2025.
Qualification: The survey identifies an association between evaluation difficulty and reduced entry-level hiring, not causation.
Employers Want Proof of What Candidates Can Do
Employers are increasingly looking for evidence that candidates can apply their skills in real-world settings. General interviews remain common, but employers also rely on on-the-job evaluations, technical assessments and work samples to evaluate readiness.
Key Facts
Practical Experience Helps Turn Education Into Employment
38% of employers say internships, apprenticeships or project-based work are the most effective path for recent graduates to move from education into employment.
Degree Importance and Certificate Value, 2025 versus 2026.
Degrees and Certificates Are Gaining Value
Employers are not choosing between degrees, skills and experience. The 2026 findings show that they increasingly value multiple signals of workforce readiness.
Employers are placing greater value on degrees and certificates while continuing to prioritize skills and practical experience.
Degree Importance, 2025 versus 2026.
Certificate Value, 2025 versus 2026.
Critical Thinking and AI Fluency Top Employers’ Skills Priorities
Quick Takeaways
#1 Skills Gap
Critical thinking is employers’ most frequently cited skills gap.
47% AI
say effective use of AI tools is an important skill workers need to acquire.
47% Human
say critical thinking is an important skill workers need to acquire.
Employers Want Workers to Work Alongside AI
Quick Takeaways
38%
say workers concerned about AI should learn how to work alongside it.
30%
say workers should strengthen uniquely human skills.
Together, the findings point toward a workforce that needs both greater AI fluency and stronger human capabilities.
Best Advice for Workers Concerned About AI
Key Facts
Employers Want Candidates to Demonstrate What They Can Do
Employers are looking for evidence that candidates can apply their skills. General interview questions (41%), on-the-job evaluations (40%) and technical or skills-based assessments (38%) are the most commonly cited evaluation methods.
How Hiring Professionals Evaluate Candidate Competency in AI, 2025 vs. 2026
Discover How Other Employers View Higher Education
Previous Workforce Decoded Reports
Explore previous editions of WGU’s annual Workforce Decoded research.
Methodology
The 2026 Workforce Decoded report is based on a national survey conducted by Centiment on behalf of WGU between June 24 and July 7, 2026. A total of 3,128 U.S.-based respondents completed the online survey. Respondents were screened to confirm they were currently employed and directly involved in the hiring process.