Only one in four workers in the UK feel their job is safe from elimination, according to ADP, which surveyed nearly 39,000 workers across 36 countries.

UK workers were slightly more confident than the global average, with 25% saying their role was safe from elimination, compared with 22% globally and 21% across Europe.

The figures point to a clear divide across the workforce. In the UK, knowledge workers were far more likely to feel secure than those in repetitive roles, with 34% of the former saying their jobs were safe, compared with 19% of the latter.

Gender differences were also pronounced. Women in the UK were less confident than men about their long-term job security, at 22% compared with 28% – the widest gender gap recorded in Europe, ADP said.

Workforce divide

The survey also found differences by employer size. Staff at mid-sized UK companies showed the highest confidence in job security, at 36%, compared with 23% at small businesses and 22% at large corporations.

That pattern runs against the wider European picture, where workers generally become more confident about job security as company size increases.

Employee perceptions of security also appear closely linked to wider workplace outcomes. Globally, workers who felt their jobs were secure were twice as likely to say they had no intention of leaving their employer.

They were also six times more likely to be fully engaged and 3.3 times more likely to report high productivity, the report found.

The findings come as employers assess how artificial intelligence, changing job design and demographic shifts are reshaping the workplace. While unemployment has remained relatively low in many markets, confidence in personal job security has not kept pace.

No market in the survey recorded a majority of workers who strongly agreed that their jobs were safe from elimination. The result suggests uncertainty is widespread rather than concentrated in a small group of countries or sectors.

Management challenge

For employers, the data highlights a management issue as well as a labour market one. Workers who do not feel secure in their roles may be less engaged, less productive and more likely to consider leaving, even when headline employment conditions appear stable.

The report draws on responses from working adults across a wide range of industries, educational backgrounds and working arrangements, including on-site and remote roles. It also includes workers in both management and individual contributor positions.

Jeff Phipps, Senior Vice-President and General Manager for ADP UK and Northern Europe, said the findings showed a gap between broader economic indicators and employee sentiment.

“The world of work is changing fast, and our findings reveal a gap between what the labour market is telling us and what employees are feeling. Employment is strong, but many UK workers are uncertain about what the future holds for their role. People want to know there’s a place for them as their organisation evolves, and that they’ll be supported to get there. The businesses that treat this seriously – investing in skills and being honest about change – are the ones seeing the payoff in how people perform and whether they stay,” he said.

The survey underlines how concerns about job loss are not spread evenly across the workforce. Workers in more repetitive roles appear especially exposed to uncertainty, while those in knowledge-based jobs report significantly stronger confidence.

That gap may become more important as businesses review staffing needs and the impact of AI on routine tasks. For employers, the challenge is likely to be not only how work changes, but how clearly those changes are explained to staff.

Across the UK labour market, confidence remains fragile even among workers who are currently employed. With just 25% saying they strongly believe their role is safe from elimination, a large majority remain unsure or unconvinced about their longer-term prospects.

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

DoubleVerify has published research with YouGov showing that fewer than half of UK consumers feel confident identifying AI-generated content online. It also said it had uncovered a network of AI-generated sports websites targeting UK football fans.

The survey of 2,000 UK consumers found that 41% felt confident spotting AI-generated content, while 92% said its rise was making it harder to trust information online. Another 81% said they were concerned about encountering fake or misleading AI content designed to appear genuine.

The findings point to a gap between public concern about synthetic media and people’s ability to recognise it in practice. DoubleVerify linked that gap to a cluster of more than 40 UK-based sports domains that it said were producing AI-written articles and pushing them into large online fan communities.

“As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, the challenge now shifts to identifying it,” said Stuart Flint, Managing director, EMEA, DoubleVerify. “Consumers are increasingly sceptical, but they don’t feel equipped to distinguish between authentic and synthetic content. That creates a meaningful vulnerability across the open web and social platforms.”

Sports network

The websites identified by DoubleVerify use generic names such as sportupdatenow, soccertrend and sportmoves. Some publish more than 10 sports articles a day without clearly identified editorial staff or original reporting, according to the company.

DoubleVerify said the material ranged from fully AI-generated articles to AI-rewritten stories copied from established UK news publishers. In some cases, the stories included fabricated quotes attributed to real athletes and public figures.

The company described the distribution tactic as “FanFarming”, a process in which links to the articles are seeded into established sports fan groups on major online platforms. The aim, it said, was to draw readers back to websites that then monetise the traffic through advertising.

Based on DoubleVerify’s estimates, including distribution through fan pages, the network has already been exposed to hundreds of thousands of UK sports fans. Several of the domains also appeared to carry malicious advertising, the report said.

How it spreads

The report said sports fan communities are particularly vulnerable because they are built around breaking news, transfer rumours and match reaction. Posts often use urgent language to encourage clicks, then direct users to pages filled with display advertising.

One example involved an article on sportsrock.co.uk that attributed a fabricated quote to Sir Alex Ferguson about a Manchester United transfer target. DoubleVerify said the article was later shared in an online fan group called Fabrizio Romano Transfer News, which it said had 3.8 million members.

DoubleVerify said there was no evidence Ferguson had made the quoted statement. It added that the underlying transfer rumour was real, but the quote was invented.

Another example involved a story circulated in a Chelsea fan group that used a real match result as the basis for an alleged “locker room crisis”. According to DoubleVerify, the article relied on invented quotes, while the actual post-match comments from club captain Reece James had been routine and had not criticised teammates or the manager.

The report also described an Arsenal-related post claiming defender Myles Lewis-Skelly had said it was “time for me to join Chelsea” after being “thrown under the bus”. DoubleVerify said neither the transfer development nor the statement had occurred.

Ad risk

DoubleVerify said advertisements from major brands had appeared on some of the sites when campaigns did not include protections against low-quality AI-generated content. It argued that this exposed advertisers to reputational risk while also diverting spending from established publishers.

Some of the same accounts repeatedly posted links to several domains in the network within the same online communities, suggesting coordinated distribution across multiple sites, DoubleVerify said. It also said the model could generate thousands of pages and millions of potential ad impressions at low cost.

The research comes as concern grows across the media and advertising industries over the spread of AI-generated articles, images and videos that mimic legitimate reporting. The issue is particularly sensitive in sport, where transfer speculation and fast-moving news can make false claims seem plausible.

DoubleVerify said the challenge was not limited to football. In the first weeks of the year alone, its fraud unit identified thousands of similar sites across several languages, showing how quickly automated publishing is scaling across the wider web.

“This is a trust gap at scale,” said Flint. “Consumers know there’s a problem, but they don’t feel equipped to identify it. That creates an opening for bad actors to insert low-quality, AI-generated content into environments people already trust, like sports fan communities.”

Unipart, which employs more than 1,000 people in its head office and warehouse, labelled its HQ as “not fit for purpose”.

And with the lease due to expire in August 2027, its future from Garsington Road is being reconsidered.

Dame Anneliese, the Labour MP for Oxford East, said: “I have been seeking a meeting with Unipart, which I hope can happen soon.

“I was very concerned to hear about the potential closure of the Unipart HQ and warehouse, given the impact that this would have on local people.”

Unipart has so far not responded to our request for further information surrounding its future in the city.

This newspaper has asked whether it would look to stay in Oxford, Oxfordshire or move outside the county.

We have also asked why the building is no longer fit for purpose and whether any jobs are under threat.

Historically, Unipart has closed operations in Oxford before. The company shut down its Woodstock Road factory in 1998, with operations transferring to Coventry.

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While the Cowley site is currently under the microscope, Unipart maintains a long-term presence in Oxfordshire and recently secured a major new seven-year production logistics contract at the neighboring MINI Plant in Cowley.

If the head office and warehouse was to close in Cowley, the multi-million-pound deal would not be affected by this.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the company said previously: “Unipart confirms that it is reviewing future options for its head office, currently at Unipart House, Cowley, in Oxford.

“The current lease expires in August 2027 and the site is no longer fit for purpose for its workplace needs.

“Unipart is using this as an opportunity to identify a solution that provides a modern, collaborative, sustainable workplace for colleagues.

“The current lease ends in 2032 for Unipart’s Cowley warehouse, with a break clause in August 2027, so a review has also begun to explore options for this.

“It is discussing this with relevant colleagues and colleague forums and will keep them fully updated on developments.”

John Neill, the former chairman of Uniparts, said in 2023 that investment could be shifted to the United States or Europe due to subsidies overseas.

Mr Neill announced his retirement after 50 years in 2024.

Unipart has been based in Cowley since the brand’s inception in 1974.

Originally formed as the parts division for British Leyland, the logistics and manufacturing giant has operated out of its Garsington Road headquarters for over half a century.