Staffmark Group's
Heart of Work Study
Workers Choose People Over AI at Hiring's Most Critical Moments
Technology may be transforming work, but understanding people is still the key to workforce success.
Staffmark Group’s inaugural Heart of Work Index, based on insights from 3,746 workers across eight industries, reveals what talent really wants from today’s hiring experience—and what employers may be missing about the workforce they already have.
By the Numbers
71/100
Workers’ preference toward a human-led hiring experience
0 = an all-digital hiring experience
100 = an all-human experience
70%
Prefer human support after applying and before interviewing
57%
Likely to look for another job within six months
People Over Platforms: Human Connection Still Wins
Workers aren’t asking employers to choose between technology and people. They’re asking employers to understand where each belongs.
The Heart of Work Index scored 71 out of 100, where zero represents an entirely digital hiring experience and 100 an entirely human one. Workers lean decisively toward human interaction, especially as they move deeper into the hiring journey.
The most critical moment?
After an application is submitted and before the interview. At this stage, 70% prefer human-led support versus just 30% who favor a digital-led experience.
People Over Platforms: Human Connection Still Wins
Workers aren’t asking employers to choose between technology and people. They’re asking employers to understand where each belongs.
The Heart of Work Index scored 71 out of 100, where zero represents an entirely digital hiring experience and 100 an entirely human one. Workers lean decisively toward human interaction, especially as they move deeper into the hiring journey.
The most critical moment?
After an application is submitted and before the interview. At this stage, 70% prefer human-led support versus just 30% who favor a digital-led experience.
Placeholder for Quiz
Featured Finding: The Retention Paradox
Your Workforce Is Satisfied. And Still Looking.
On paper, 85% job satisfaction among workers sounds like a workforce employers can count on. Look one layer deeper and the picture changes. The Heart of Work Study reveals a more complicated reality: workers can like their jobs, feel burned out and still be actively considering their next move.
Are satisfied with their current jobs
Get Ahead of the Exit
The Retention Paradox isn’t just a retention problem. It’s a workforce-planning problem.
Our latest findings explore the factors that could turn job-search intent into actual turnover and what employers can do now to address burnout, strengthen engagement, improve workforce flexibility and retain valuable talent.
Discover the warning signs behind today’s workforce stability and practical strategies to get ahead of tomorrow’s turnover.
Four Workforce Personas. One Important Lesson.
Not every worker wants the same hiring experience.
The Heart of Work Study identifies four distinct personas that illustrate how workers prefer to interact with people and technology:
One-in-six workers fall into the two most human-centered personas.
The lesson for employers: the best hiring experience isn’t necessarily the most automated. It’s the one that adapts to the person.
AI: Low Anxiety, Mixed Views on Fairness
While employers accelerate AI adoption, workers have a more measured view of its impact. Many report little change to their day-to-day responsibilities, and most don’t expect AI to replace their jobs in the immediate future.
But attitudes toward AI are not the same as trust in automated hiring. Workers appreciate the convenience of technology while remaining more divided about whether it makes hiring fairer.
Job Impact
job within 12 months
to how they do their job
Fairness Perception
makes hiring fairer
The Staffmark Group Advantage: Built for the Moments That Matter
Staffmark Group helps employers make more informed workforce decisions by combining modern recruiting technology, experienced recruiters, labor-market intelligence and flexible workforce strategies to address both sides of the talent equation: winning the people you need and keeping the people you have.
"Speed and technology absolutely have their place, especially at the very top of the hiring funnel. But our research confirms what we've built our entire business around: the moment the stakes get real, an interview, an offer, a first day, people want a person in their corner, not a chatbot."
– Stacey Lane, CEO, Staffmark Group
Ready to build a workforce strategy that works?
Discover how Staffmark Group can help you balance innovation with human connection, strengthen retention and get ahead of changing workforce needs.
About the Study
The 2026 Heart of Work Survey was conducted on behalf of Staffmark Group by national market data services firm Attest in July 2026. The survey was administered online to 3,746 workers across eight industries, including full-time, part-time, and temporary or contract workers ages eighteen and older, representing a national sample.
