On the second Monday of every month, PRSA offers “AI Pulse,” a briefing hosted by Ray Day, APR, PRSA’s 2026 immediate past chair, that provides timely insights into the latest AI trends, tools, and developments. Learn how to stay ahead of an ever-evolving digital landscape here.
It’s a common lament for entry-level jobseekers: They submit résumés to online portals where AI screens the applicants, and never get a response.
Why are new professionals, even those with impressive credentials, having a hard time finding work? Is artificial intelligence replacing jobs and freezing out people who are trying to start their careers?
“We firmly believe that AI isn’t taking jobs,” Sheena Karami Hollander said. “The skills gap is.”
Sheena Karami Hollander, international spokesperson and director of corporate communications & public relations at Express Employment Professionals SA, was among the guests on Aug. 10 for “AI Pulse,” PRSA’s monthly livestream that helps communicators stay up to date on how artificial intelligence is changing the PR profession. Ray Day, APR, vice chair of Stagwell, executive chair of Allison Worldwide, and PRSA’s 2026 immediate past chair, served as the host.
In partnership with The Harris Poll, Express Employment International has collected data on how AI is affecting the U.S. workforce.
In a survey, 35% of those who make hiring decisions say jobs at their organizations are not being filled because applicants lack soft skills. Asked which skills or qualities they consider “absolutely essential” in job applicants, 60% of hiring managers cited work ethic.
Hiring managers also look for dependability (cited by 59%), willingness to learn (57%), accountability (54%), and communication skills (52%).
In the research, soft skills outpace AI skills significantly, with only 23% of hiring managers saying AI skills are essential for jobseekers. Still, 69% of hiring managers say the gap between the skills they consider essential and those young jobseekers possess has never been wider.
Leaders and workers see AI differently.
Nearly all business leaders polled (92%) say they use AI daily or weekly. Some 80% say their company’s reliance on AI has significantly increased in the past year. But 68% of U.S. workers surveyed say they’re navigating the transition to AI largely on their own. Some 41% say they have received “zero” support on AI from their employers in the past 12 months.
Among employed jobseekers, 55% fear their employer lacks the resources to train them on how to use artificial intelligence technology.
Further illustrating the discrepancy between how business leaders and employees see AI in the workplace, 94% of business leaders surveyed say they’re optimistic about the next generation’s economic prospects. But 46% of employees believe they are training the technology that will replace them.
“Whether these fears are accurate or not, they’re very real in the minds of the American workforce today,” said panelist Jennifer Musil, global president of research at The Harris Poll. “The organizations that we see transitioning most successfully [to using AI] aren’t necessarily the ones with the most advanced technology,” but “those who are communicating with their workforce and bringing people along.”
Among hiring managers, 90% don’t believe AI will ever fully replace human employees. Nearly the same share say they value human assessments of a job candidate’s soft skills such as communication, trustworthiness, judgment, and attitude.
At the same time, business leaders might not be as confident about AI as they appear, Musil said.
“It’s important that they project confidence to the market in their AI strategies,” she said. But privately, some business leaders “admit talking a good AI game while they’re still figuring it out behind the scenes.”
Communications skills will always be relevant.
Panelist Michael Patino, managing director and CEO of Patino Associates, an executive-search firm for communications and public affairs professionals, said not all communicators have the soft skills they need. In the next five to 10 years, a big challenge for young communications professionals will be to gain skills such as interpersonal communication while using AI, which tends to supplant that human connection.
Even as AI advances, companies still need people who can build trust and relationships, “which are the things that communicators do,” said panelist Jamie McLaughlin, CEO and founder of Monday Talent, a search firm for marketing and communications executives based in Beverly Hills, Calif.
“With communicators, it’s always been about trust and experience and curiosity,” McLaughlin said. “In the world of AI, that is magnified a hundred times.”
While “there is short-term pain at the moment,” McLaughlin said, “the skill set that the communicator has is one that’s always going to be relevant.”
Illustration credit: Lianlian Liang
