WASHINGTON, D.C. — As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the day-to-day workplace experience, about one-third of Gen Z adult workers living in America’s Heartland feel at least somewhat prepared to integrate artificial intelligence into their current jobs. Meanwhile, four in 10 Gen Z 5th- to 12th-grade students in the Heartland feel prepared to use AI in their future jobs.
Fewer than one in 10 Heartland Gen Z employees (9%) say they feel “extremely” prepared to use artificial intelligence in their current jobs, while 25% say they are “somewhat” prepared.
When asked about their ability to use AI in their future roles, Gen Z adults who are no longer in secondary school are only slightly more optimistic: 11% feel extremely prepared, while 32% feel somewhat prepared. Meanwhile, just 3% of Gen Z middle and high school students feel extremely prepared to use AI in their future jobs, with 37% feeling somewhat prepared.
These findings are from a new survey conducted by the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup spanning 20 states[1] in the Midwest and noncoastal South of the United States in partnership with Heartland Forward, a nonprofit organization committed to studying economic and wellbeing trends in the middle of the country.
The online survey — the latest in the Voices of Gen Z study — was conducted March 6-13, 2025, using the Gallup Panel. The results are based on responses from 1,474 13- to 28-year-old Gen Z children and adults living in the 20 Heartland states.
Industry and Workplace Policies Are Linked to Employee AI Preparedness
Gen Z employees’ confidence in their ability to use artificial intelligence in their work is closely related to the type of industry they are employed in. More than six in 10 (61%) Gen Zers who work in a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) role feel at least somewhat prepared to use AI in their jobs. Meanwhile, workers in education (43%), other white-collar industries (32%), blue-collar and service jobs (30%), and healthcare (22%) are 18 to 39 percentage points less likely to feel prepared to use AI at work.
Notably, nearly half of healthcare (48%) and blue-collar and service workers (47%) say artificial intelligence does not exist for their jobs.
For employers looking to increase their workers’ comfort with artificial intelligence, their AI use policies may be an important factor. Nearly six in 10 workers (59%) whose employers permit AI use feel prepared to use AI at work, compared with about one in four workers (26%) whose employers do not permit its use or do not have clear AI policies.
However, 36% of Gen Z workers say their employer allows them to use artificial intelligence for their work, while 10% say it is not permitted, 21% are unsure about whether their workplace allows its use, and 33% do not have jobs that can use AI.
Gen Z workers in some fields are more likely than others to say their employer allows them to use AI for their work. About six in 10 STEM (61%) and education workers (59%) say their employer permits artificial intelligence use, far higher than the 10% of healthcare workers and 17% of blue-collar and service workers who say the same. Nearly half of white-collar workers not employed in STEM or education (45%) are allowed to use AI at work.
Gen Z Students’ Schools Are Not Preparing Them to Use AI After Graduation
Gen Z middle and high school students are less likely than Gen Z employees to say they are allowed to use AI in their work. A narrow majority of students (53%) say their school has not implemented a clear AI use policy, while 26% say it is permitted in at least some class-related activities and 20% report their school has banned AI for use in schoolwork.
Students living in counties with a median household income that is less than $60,000 per year, as well as those in nonmetro (rural) areas, are least likely to say their school allows them to use artificial intelligence and are especially likely to say their school has not established rules regarding AI use.
The effects of schools’ limited engagement with artificial intelligence are reflected in students’ postgraduation employment outlook. Just over half of Gen Z middle and high schoolers in schools that permit AI use (56%) feel at least somewhat prepared to use this technology in their future jobs, compared with 34% of students in schools that ban AI or do not have a policy. As students in rural and lower-income areas are less likely than their peers to say their school permits artificial intelligence use, this may leave these students uniquely unprepared to enter the workforce with needed artificial intelligence knowledge and skills.
Implications
As artificial intelligence continues to change the way Americans work, Gen Zers will increasingly need to know how to leverage this technology in their current and future jobs. However, two-thirds of Gen Z workers do not feel prepared to use AI at work or do not believe AI could assist them in their roles, while 60% of Gen Z students do not feel prepared to use it after graduation.
The extent to which schools and workplaces have clear policies permitting artificial intelligence use influences students’ and employees’ confidence in their AI skills; however, most Gen Z students say their school does not allow AI use or that it does not have a clear AI policy, while more than four in 10 Gen Z workers say AI use is disallowed or they don’t know whether it’s allowed in their workplace. Workplaces that will rely on their employees’ ability to leverage artificial intelligence, as well as schools seeking to prepare students for postgraduation success, should consider whether their rules regarding artificial intelligence use are clear and facilitate students’ and workers’ development of those skills.
To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on X @Gallup.
Learn more about how the Voices of Gen Z survey works.
[1] For the purposes of this article, the Heartland refers to the following 20 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
