uloqo Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo / CEO: Kensuke Sekigawa, hereinafter "uloqo"), a provider of strategic RPO services, conducted a "Survey on AI Utilization and Job Changes" targeting 1,485 individuals aged 20 to 50.

1. Background of the Survey

In recent years, generative AI has evolved beyond a mere "tool for improving work efficiency" to become an "indispensable infrastructure" that influences productivity and competitiveness. While motivated individuals are increasingly investing their own money to absorb cutting-edge technology and autonomously integrate it into their work, the gap in AI adoption and literacy among companies is becoming more pronounced. Against this backdrop, this survey was conducted to structurally analyze how a company's AI utilization environment affects its "attractiveness as a workplace" and "recruitment competitiveness," and to propose future directions for organizational development and matching.

Definition of "AI Proficiency" in this Survey

In this survey, the generative AI utilization levels of working business professionals were analyzed using the following five stages:

L1

Single Chat Usage Group -- Uses for single queries such as research or summarizing text.

L2

Prompt Engineering Group -- Improves output accuracy by engineering prompts.

L3

Environment Building Group -- Creates custom AI assistants.

L4

AI Integration into Workflows Group -- Automates by integrating AI into existing work processes and tools.

L5

Advanced Group for Interconnecting and Operating Multiple AI Systems -- Integrates and operates multiple different AI systems and external data at a high level.

Survey Results Summary

• Approximately 1 in 2 individuals (48.6%) who have reached the "work automation level" of AI consider the "company's AI environment" important when choosing a new job.

• Over 60% (63.6%) of those in the advanced group for interconnecting and operating multiple AI systems have experienced "declining actual applications/interviews" due to a company's AI utilization lag.

• Over 80% (81.9%) of those in the advanced group for interconnecting and operating multiple AI systems responded that "the company's AI environment cannot keep up with their motivation." This can be a factor in feeling limitations with their current company's environment.

• Approximately 60% of those in the advanced group for interconnecting and operating multiple AI systems felt "AI lag" from interviewers at companies they applied to, raising concerns about declining corporate recruitment capabilities.

2. Detailed Survey Results

Approximately 1 in 2 individuals (48.6%) who have reached the "work automation level" of AI consider the "company's AI environment" important when choosing a new job.

First, we investigated the proportion of respondents who selected "company's AI utilization environment" among "items considered important when choosing a new job (top 3)." While only 10.6% of the "L1: Single Chat Usage Group" chose this, the figures were 48.6% for the "L4: AI Integration into Workflows Group" and 44.5% for the "L5: Advanced Group for Interconnecting and Operating Multiple AI Systems."

Specifically, for the "L4: AI Integration into Workflows Group," as many as approximately 1 in 2 individuals consider the AI environment as important as "annual income" or "benefits." For these advanced L4 and L5 groups, there is a gap of about 4 times compared to the "L1: Single Chat Usage Group," indicating that establishing an advanced AI environment is now an indispensable condition for companies wishing to attract and retain talented individuals.

Over 60% (63.6%) of those in the advanced group for interconnecting and operating multiple AI systems have experienced "declining actual applications/interviews" due to a company's AI utilization lag.

Next, by analyzing the generative AI utilization levels (AI proficiency) of job seekers themselves and their specific actions during their job search, it became clear that the higher an individual's skills, the more critically they evaluate a company's stance on IT infrastructure and digital transformation.

According to the survey results, only 3.7% of the "L1: Single Chat Usage Group" had experienced declining applications/interviews. In contrast, a significant 63.6% of the "L5: Advanced Group for Interconnecting and Operating Multiple AI Systems," who interconnect and operate multiple AI systems, responded that they "have actually declined applications/interviews."

There is a large behavioral gap of approximately 17 times between the "L1: Single Chat Usage Group" and the "L5: Advanced Group for Interconnecting and Operating Multiple AI Systems." This highlights a situation where highly skilled AI talent is rigorously selecting companies, viewing a company's lagging technology environment as a "risk of stagnation for their own career."

Over 80% (81.9%) of those in the advanced group for interconnecting and operating multiple AI systems responded that "the company's AI environment cannot keep up with their motivation." This can be a factor in feeling limitations with their current company's environment.

Subsequently, when asked about the situation regarding "individual motivation and actions towards AI utilization" and "the AI environment and promotion within their affiliated company," the current reality of organizational updates lagging behind individual evolution speed was revealed.

Not only did 74.4% of the "L4: AI Integration into Workflows Group" express dissatisfaction ("somewhat insufficient": 58.4% + "not at all keeping up": 16.0%), but an even higher proportion, 81.9% ( "somewhat insufficient": 31.9% + "not at all keeping up": 50.0%), of the "L5: Advanced Group for Interconnecting and Operating Multiple AI Systems" with more advanced skills responded that "the company's AI environment is insufficient or not keeping up."

Notably, within the L5 advanced group, 50.0% felt a critical lack of environment, responding "not at all keeping up." This suggests that top talent with high motivation feel they have reached their limits with their company's infrastructure and culture, believing "I cannot grow further here."

Approximately 60% of those in the advanced group for interconnecting and operating multiple AI systems felt "AI lag" from interviewers at companies they applied to, raising concerns about declining corporate recruitment capabilities.

Finally, we investigated the proportion of respondents who answered that they "experienced a decrease in their desire to join a company" due to the target company's lag in AI utilization. The results revealed that in the "L4: AI Integration into Workflows Group" and "L5: Advanced Group for Interconnecting and Operating Multiple AI Systems," approximately 60% experienced a decrease in their desire to join due to the interviewer's response, such as not understanding AI or giving ambiguous answers to questions about it.

No matter how attractive the "AI promotion" statements are on job postings or company career pages, it is evident that the real level of a company's AI promotion is measured through the literacy of its "people (interviewers)" during the selection process. The lack of understanding among interviewers carries the risk of directly leading to a "decline in recruitment capabilities," potentially causing the loss of talented individuals.

3. Comments from Person in Charge

Kensuke Sekigawa, Representative Director, uloqo Inc.

The background to job seekers rigorously evaluating a "company's AI environment" is a strong sense of crisis that their own market value will become outdated. Talented individuals fundamentally understand that remaining in an organization with a legacy AI environment carries the risk of shortening their lifespan as business professionals.

On the other hand, companies face a serious mismatch between the "AI promotion" advocated by management and the "lack of understanding among interviewers" at the forefront of selection, which triggers top talent to withdraw their applications.

The solution for companies to remain competitive lies not in superficial recruitment marketing, but in fostering a "technology acceptance environment" as a culture that does not hinder individual speed of evolution, which is what will be required in future organizational development.

4. Survey Overview

Survey Name

Survey on Awareness Regarding AI Utilization and Job Changes

Target Audience

Men and women aged 20-50 who have previous job change experience.

Number of Valid Responses

1,485 (1,164 males, 321 females)

Survey Method

Internet Survey

Survey Period

June 1, 2026 - June 19, 2026

Survey Organizer

uloqo Inc.

5. About uloqo Inc.

uloqo Inc. is a recruitment consulting and outsourcing company with strengths in the digital domain, aiming to solve Japan's labor shortage and promote DX. We advocate for the importance of "Strategic RPO" in addressing various recruitment challenges faced by companies.

We offer comprehensive, end-to-end support, from recruitment consulting and outsourcing with strengths in the digital and high-layer domains, to interview outsourcing, scout outsourcing, labor affairs outsourcing, organizational development consulting, performance evaluation system design support, and HR ERP implementation support.

〈Company Profile〉

Company Name: uloqo Inc.

URL: https://uloqo.net/

Established: April 1, 2016

Representative Director: Kensuke Sekigawa

Location: 2-9-2 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Dai-ni Kuyou Building 202A

TEL: 03-6824-0430

Number of Employees: 75

Business Activities: Provision of strategic RPO, operation of proprietary media digireka!

FACT BOX

  • Source: PR TIMES
  • Category: 意識Survey