ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A new survey suggests artificial intelligence is changing how people behave at work, especially for employees worried about proving they still matter.
According to a report from Resume.io, many workers in Florida say concerns about AI are pushing them to work longer hours, shorten lunch breaks and take on extra responsibilities in an effort to stand out.
The survey found 81% of employees said they are actively trying to demonstrate their value at work, either because of competition with AI tools or concern about future layoffs.
Among Florida workers who said they are staying later, respondents reported adding an average of 2 hours and 35 minutes of extra work each week. Over a year, that adds up to roughly 134 additional hours, or nearly four extra work weeks.
For many, the effort goes beyond simply staying online longer.
Workers said they are learning new skills outside work hours, volunteering for extra projects, taking on duties outside their job description and responding faster to emails or messages.
Others said they are skipping or shortening lunch breaks.
The survey found 55% of Florida workers said their lunch breaks have become shorter over the past year because of work pressure or concerns about productivity.
Another trend emerging from the data is what workplace analysts often call “productivity theater”, the pressure to appear busy even when output may not have meaningfully changed.
About 67% of respondents said they feel the need to look busy to prove their value in an AI-driven workplace.
More than half also said they believe AI has already changed how managers judge performance, with many feeling expectations have increased as digital tools make faster output possible.
The biggest fear remains job loss.
When asked what concerns them most about AI in the workplace, 34% said they worry AI could replace their entire job, while 30% said they fear losing parts of their role to automation.
Another 22% said their biggest concern is being expected to produce more simply because AI tools now exist.
The findings reflect a broader tension already visible in many offices: while AI can remove repetitive tasks, it can also create a sense that workers need to constantly justify why the person behind the keyboard is still necessary.
For Florida workers, especially in office-heavy industries where digital tools are becoming more common, that pressure appears to already be changing daily habits.
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