Gartner: AI, generational divide hurt work collaboration

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Collaboration in the workplace is declining, a trend Gartner attributes to a rising reliance on AI, the growing generational divide and the isolating effects of remote work.

At its annual ReimagineHR conference, Gartner analysts aren't advising employers to bring employees back to the office. Instead, they said the reasons for the decline in collaboration are complex and have no single cause.

"Technology has upended our need to connect with one another," said Russ McCall, a Gartner analyst, during the conference keynote. He noted that employees increasingly turn to AI tools for assistance instead of their co-workers or managers, shifting how they seek support and collaborate.

Technology has upended our need to connect with one another.

The disconnect runs deeper, with factors such as generational differences playing a surprising role. In a moment that brought nervous laughter from the 5,500 attendees, McCall said hiring managers have reported that "college graduates struggle with eye contact, dress inappropriately and even use some eyebrow-raising language." But the kicker, he added, is that "nearly 20% showed up to the interview with their mom or dad."

Gartner's quarterly surveys of about 18,000 workers worldwide indicate a steady drop in employee satisfaction with workplace collaboration. Currently, only 29% of employees report satisfaction with work collaboration, a figure Gartner expects will continue to decline.

Gartner analysts said remote and hybrid work play a role in the trend of declining work collaboration by reducing spontaneity and encouraging independent work habits. Yet, flexibility remains a priority for many companies, including file hosting service Dropbox.

Flexibility and agency are "the ultimate currency in modern work," said Allison Vendt, vice president of people operations and global head of Virtual First at Dropbox, during a separate session at the Gartner conference. "When you give your employees flexibility, they are their most productive, healthiest, thriving selves," she said.

"But because there's no substitute for human connection, we continue to prioritize regular human connection across our team," Vendt said. The company achieves this connection by hosting quarterly team off-site meetings, she added, explaining this approach "combines the best of both remote work and in-person experience."

Gartner suggested companies take a structured approach to address declining collaboration, including AI-enabled "nudges" that remind employees to connect and respond to colleagues. "These sorts of nudges could also be designed to help improve our connections and interactions with our colleagues," said Jessie Knight, a Gartner analyst, during the keynote.

Knight said this type of tech might comb a colleague's work history to suggest ways they can contribute or propose next steps for a team based on the experiences of other teams with similar projects.

Parveen Desa, a conference attendee and director of regulatory compliance training at a financial services firm, agreed with Gartner's insights on collaboration, noting she "found that to be very insightful." She emphasized the need for collaboration between HR and IT on tech deployments, adding that it's often "rare to get HR at the table."

Patrick Thibodeau is an editor at large for TechTarget Editorial who covers HCM and ERP technologies. He's worked for more than two decades as an enterprise IT reporter.