UKG's Morgan: AI not making frontline jobs more vulnerable

Morgan's comments come from a leader whose company sits on a large pool of payroll and scheduling data: UKG, formed in 2020 from the merger of Ultimate Software and Kronos, processes $1 trillion of payroll data each year for organizations employing 65 million hourly and frontline workers. Her observation that those jobs have not become much more vulnerable to AI disruption is notable because it runs against the common assumption that frontline roles are first in line for automation.

The strategy she describes pairs AI tools with data on wages, absenteeism and scheduling inefficiencies. Morgan argues that pairing these tools with data-driven insights can cut billions of dollars from what she calls corporate America's $1 trillion-a-year attrition bill, noting that replacing just one hourly worker costs the average employer about $5,000. The 14% higher retention figure from a customer offering early wage access is offered as evidence that giving workers more control can pay off.

Morgan has also overhauled UKG's leadership, replacing about 80% of her direct reports and 40% of the tier below them, and spends at least a quarter of her time with customers including Marriott, the Mayo Clinic, PepsiCo and the Transportation Security Administration. Whether the workforce intelligence hub positioning translates into measurable retention gains across UKG's customer base is likely to be the question that determines how far the pitch travels.