Hiring and Onboarding Taking Longer Despite Widespread AI Adoption, New Australian Research Finds

• Filling a vacant role now takes five days longer and new hires are taking 29% longer to reach productivity
• Only 15% of HR professionals say AI has been transformative 
• 93% of Australian HR teams are using AI, yet over half (55%) do so only occasionally
• Just one in four (26%) HR leaders feel fully prepared to meet leadership’s expectations around AI

18 March 2026 – AI adoption is higher than ever among Australian organisations and HR teams, yet new research from ELMO Software suggests it is not yet translating into faster workforce outcomes.

The 2026 ELMO HR Industry Benchmark Report, which surveyed 904 HR professionals across Australia in January 2026, found many organisations’ expectations for AI have failed to turn into reality. Last year, 32% of Australian HR leaders expected AI to be transformative for their organisation, but only 15% say it actually delivered.

This comes as AI adoption continues to grow. Four in five (80%) Australian organisations are using AI and 93% of HR teams. However, more than half (55%) of HR professionals use AI only occasionally. Across organisations, just 6% say more than three-quarters of the workforce use approved AI tools. 

ELMO Software President, Joseph Lyons, said the findings highlight the tension between broad AI adoption and its actual impact.

“In just a few years, Australian organisations have made significant progress in adopting AI,” Lyons said. “Occasionally using an AI tool or a large language model, however, will not lead to true organisational transformation. We’re seeing a capability gap between AI readiness and actual impact. The focus now is on moving beyond standalone tools and embedding AI into the systems that support how people are hired, onboarded, developed and managed.”

Slowing time to hire and productivity

HR professionals say organisations are retaining employees for longer – potentially reflecting the growing “job hugging” trend, where workers stay in roles amid economic uncertainty – but are taking longer to train and onboard new hires.

Turnover rates have dropped for the first time in four years to 11%, with the number of employees departing during probation decreasing to 9%. The average cost to hire is now AUD$17,000, down $1,600, or around 9%, compared to last year.

However, it’s taking an extra five days (25 vs 20 days in 2025) to fill vacant roles and a further 44 days for new hires to be productive (vs 34 days in 2025).

“Many organisations are focusing on deploying AI tools, but the real challenge is workforce capability,” says Lyons.

“As employees stay longer in their roles, organisations have a greater opportunity to invest in upskilling and career development. Embedding AI capability and continuous learning into onboarding will be critical to helping employees adapt as roles and workflows evolve. That’s exactly why organisations are starting to think about AI not as a standalone tool, but as part of a connected workforce platform that supports the full employee lifecycle.”

Leadership confusion around AI ownership stalling progress

The research also suggests confusion around AI ownership is causing issues. Only 12% of HR leaders believe they’re in charge of AI adoption, while 39% think it sits entirely with IT. Two in five (39%) business leaders believe it’s the C-Suite or IT’s (35%) responsibility, but still have strong expectations for HR to deliver – but just 26% of HR leaders feel fully prepared to deliver on leadership expectations around AI.

This disconnect stalls progress, says ELMO partner, Dr Amantha Imber, Organisational Psychologist, AI Consultant of the Year.

“When AI ownership sits in a grey zone between the C-Suite, IT and HR, adoption stalls. Everyone expects progress, but no one is truly empowered to drive it end to end. The fastest path forward is a clear responsibility map.”

AI impact held back by foundational, quality issues

HR professionals say translating AI usage into real outcomes is held back by two main barriers. They’re concerned about compliance and infrastructure, with 37% saying data security and privacy is a key barrier, and 34% reporting issues integrating AI with current systems.

They don’t always trust AI outputs. One-third (32%) of HR professionals cite challenges with excessive rework, along with difficulty validating outputs (31%), inaccuracy (29%) and AI slowing tasks down (18%).

“If businesses don’t fix foundational issues around data quality and integration, AI will continue to underdeliver,” says Lyons. “Addressing these first will go a long way to properly equip organisations to turn adoption into strategic impact.”

About the ELMO 2026 HR Industry Benchmark Report

The 2026 HR Industry Benchmark Report survey was conducted by YouGov, among a sample of 904 HR Professionals in Australia and 337 HR Professionals in New Zealand. Respondents were aged 18+ and employed in middle management level and above, excluding organisations with less than 20 employees. The research was conducted as an online survey over an 9-day period from 6 January to 15 January 2026. 

About ELMO Software 

Founded in 2002, the ELMO Group comprises ELMO Software, Breathe HR and Rotageek. ELMO Group is a multinational provider of people management solutions, trusted by over 18,000 organisations across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

ELMO is The Complete AI Workforce Platform™. It unifies HR and Payroll on one connected data foundation and layers native AI to turn workforce data into insight and action. ELMO’s mission is to get Australia and New Zealand’s workforce ready for what’s next and supports the full employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding to learning, performance, payroll and more.

Backed by ISO-certified security, Australian-based data hosting and local experts who guide change throughout the journey, ELMO helps mid-sized organisations build the foundation for AI-ready workforces of tomorrow.For more information, visit www.elmosoftware.com.au  or follow ELMO Software on LinkedIn.