WILMINGTON – – November 04, 2026 -- Some 51% of U.S. HR professionals say their organizations are hiring externally for new AI-related positions, while 42% report redeploying existing staff, even though 92% of HR respondents believe their employees could be reskilled for those roles, according to a Careerminds white paper.
The study, The AI Redeployment Gap: What Companies Lose by Hiring over Reskilling, was conducted with Censuswide. It surveyed 1,142 U.S. HR professionals (595) and people managers (547) at organizations with 500 or more employees. Fieldwork ran May 15–26, 2026.
Managers Show the Same Gap Between Belief and Hiring Practice
Among people managers, 88% say staff could be reskilled for AI roles. Yet 47% report external hiring for these positions, against 42% who report redeployment.
Visibility into internal skills may be one barrier. About 43% of HR professionals and 34% of people managers report limited visibility or uncertainty about which employees should be reskilled. Even so, 87% of HR professionals and 84% of managers say their organizations adequately consider reskilling for future roles.
HR and Managers Disagree on Who Owns AI Workforce Planning
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of HR professionals say HR holds primary responsibility for planning and managing AI-driven workforce change. Only 24% of people managers agree, and 35% point to senior leadership outside HR instead.
Careerminds says this split could complicate efforts to identify internal talent, coordinate reskilling programs and move employees into emerging roles.
Technology and Telecom Lean on External Hires by 15 Points
In Technology and Telecom, external hiring outpaces redeployment by 15 percentage points among both HR professionals and people managers.
Media and Entertainment is the only surveyed sector where both groups report redeployment at least as often as external hiring. Among its HR professionals, 56% report redeploying employees, compared with 25% hiring externally.
External Hiring Can Cost Three to Five Times More Than Internal Moves
The white paper cites separate research from The Josh Bersin Company indicating that external hiring can cost three to five times more than filling comparable roles internally. It can also take up to 20 days longer.
Mark Saddic, Senior Partner at Careerminds, said organizations should map the skills they already have and set up a clear process for internal transitions before recruiting outside.
Careerminds recommends that employers assign clear accountability for AI workforce planning, improve visibility into employee skills, and assess internal development options before defaulting to external recruitment.