Voice of the Essential Worker: Manufacturing 2025

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Hardworking businesses are turning to AI to increase their agility in the face of changing markets. We asked frontline workers how they are using AI, how it affects their supply chain, and what matters most to their productivity.

Part 1:
AI

For both customer-facing and behind the scenes workers, AI is a key tool to help them increase productivity, improve the quality of their work, and achieve faster time to value.

Part 2:
Supply Chain

Staying ahead of supply chain disruptions and inefficiencies is critical to any business. AI solutions that help with work flows, inventory, and forecasting can help you see the big picture at all times.

Part 3:
Workforce Productivity

How is AI impacting workers on a day-to-day level? 37% of those surveyed said their organizations viewed increased workforce productivity as the most important benefit of AI and automation. This was followed by faster response to supply chain disruptions (22%) and reduced operational costs (14%).

Part 4:
Key Takeaways for Leadership

The insights above show how frontline workers are using AI and what returns they’re seeing from it, how efficient they are at managing their supply chain, and what matters most when it comes to worker productivity.

Profile of
Who We Surveyed

In order to provide the full context around these findings, we offer additional details on the workers we surveyed, and the methodology used. We began our survey of 1038 frontline workers in manufacturing, distribution, retail, and building supply on May 28, 2025.