55% of private sector workers use AI, MetLife survey

Artificial intelligence or AI is becoming a major hope for reducing stress among workers in a rapidly changing workplace. About 55 percent or more than half of the country's private sector workforce is currently using AI. And of those who are using AI, almost everyone has a very positive opinion about its benefits.

Such information has come out in the latest research report entitled 'Employee Benefit Trends Study (EBTS) 2026' by multinational insurance company MetLife Bangladesh.

The data of this survey was released in an event at the office of Metlife Bangladesh in Motijheel of the capital on Sunday afternoon. Naufel Anwar, Head of Marketing and Product of MetLife Bangladesh, Saifur Rahman, Head of Communications and others were present in the event.

MetLife's EBTS 2026 survey was conducted in August this year. In the survey, information has been collected from a total of 709 people from different sectors of the country. Of these, 583 were full-time workers and 126 were key decision-makers regarding the employer's or organization's financial benefits. Workers from the ready-made garment sector, NGOs, banks, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), telecom, retailers, etc., contributed to the survey.

According to survey data, about 91 percent of AI users feel that it is having a positive impact on their lives. Apart from this, the use of AI in daily work is bringing significant changes in the mental health and efficiency of employees. For example, 54 percent of workers reported that AI tools are directly helping them reduce work-related stress. About 48 percent of workers feel that AI is helping them increase their overall productivity.

It also found that 46 percent of workers feel that the increasing use of AI in the workplace will relieve them of work overload or frustration. And nearly 40 percent of workers say AI is reducing traditional workloads and allowing them to focus on more meaningful and creative work. In addition, 34 percent of workers feel that it has a positive impact on their personal life besides reducing mental fatigue.

Corporate support is behind

According to the report, today's workforce is quite adept at using AI. About 84 percent of AI users feel comfortable using it in their daily work. However, adoption of AI at the institutional level remains somewhat slow or lagging. Only 58 percent of employers surveyed are currently encouraging or enabling employees to use AI in their day-to-day work.

For organizations that are yet to embrace AI or artificial intelligence in the workplace, there is hope as nearly 62 percent of organizations in the sector plan to adopt AI tools in the near future. They are planning to implement it in next 1 to 5 years.

Employees want 'care culture'

Research has shown that a compassionate culture or 'care culture' plays a major role in increasing peace of mind and productivity in the workplace. Surveys have shown that job satisfaction rates are higher in organizations where employees feel that employers or senior managers care and empathize with them. The survey found this satisfaction rate up to 92 percent.

According to a survey by MetLife, the overall job satisfaction rate of employees in the organization has increased to 83 percent in 2026. In 2025, this rate was 78 percent.

Major Deficiency in Safeguards

According to the report, there remains a wide gap between what workers consider essential or 'must-have' protections such as life insurance, death insurance, disability and critical illness and what employers actually provide.

For example, it can be seen that almost 73 percent of the employees who participated in the survey consider life insurance very important, but only 38 percent of the organizations have its practical application. Similarly, there is a big shortfall in the provision of benefits by companies in terms of permanent disability and critical illness insurance benefits.

Naufel Anwar, Head of Marketing and Product of MetLife Bangladesh, said that people's concern and awareness about health has increased since the time of Corona. Dengue is being discussed recently. Apart from this, a significant number of people suffering from complex diseases including kidney patients, heart disease, cancer are worried. Treatment of these diseases is very expensive. For this, he expects special benefits from the organization in health protection. The more employees receive such benefits, the more loyal they are to the organization.