Frontline Workers Don’t Want AI Out of Hiring. They Want It Out in the Open.

New survey of 1,014 U.S. frontline workers finds only 1 in 4 oppose AI in the hiring process

Frontline workers aren’t asking companies to abandon artificial intelligence in hiring. They’re asking them to stop pretending they’re not using it. Just one in four oppose AI in the hiring process. Nearly three in four say how a company explains its AI use directly shapes their trust. And over three-fifths of those who applied for jobs in the past year have been ghosted after multiple rounds of interviews.

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“This survey confirms something we’ve long thought at Fountain. Frontline workers want respect and honesty. They know AI is part of the process. They’re asking to be kept in the loop,” Fountain CEO Sean Behr said.

Fountain, the AI-native platform for managing the global frontline workforce, commissioned Propeller Insights to survey 1,014 U.S. frontline workers in June 2026.

As for distrust in AI, it turns out the real culprit is not the tools, but the transparency around how they are used. When companies clearly explain how they use AI, nearly a third of workers say they trust them more for it, with another 4 in 10 saying their trust would depend on what that AI is doing, according to the survey.

Nearly half of respondents said knowing a human reviews final decisions would make them more comfortable with AI in hiring. Forty-two percent want the ability to request human interaction at any point in the process. Workers are most comfortable with AI handling specific tasks: scheduling interviews (40%), communication about roles (38%), or screening (29%).

The current reality falls well short of that. Among those who applied for jobs in the past year, the single biggest complaint was lack of communication or updates, cited by 1 in 5. Nearly as many say their biggest frustration is being screened out by automated systems without understanding why. Ghosting rounds out the top three: 62% of frontline workers who applied for jobs in the past year reported being ghosted after multiple rounds of interviews. Thirty-two percent never heard back at all during their most recent interview.

When asked to name the biggest benefit of AI in frontline workforce management, 15% specifically name more consistent communication and updates. Another 22% point to faster hiring, and nearly 1 in 4 say reduced bias in decisions.

This is a problem AI, deployed intentionally, can solve. Fountain notifies candidates before any AI interaction, with opt-out to a human alternative, explainable scoring, and human recruiters making every final hiring decision. On the employer side, Fountain’s agentic platform Cue is built on the same principle: Every AI-driven action is logged and traceable, every optimization suggestion requires human review before it’s applied, and recruiters can intervene on any agent decision at any point.

“This survey confirms something we’ve long thought at Fountain. Frontline workers want respect and honesty. They know AI is part of the process. They’re asking to be kept in the loop,” Fountain CEO Sean Behr said. “Tell me where I stand. Tell me who decides. Follow through when you say you will. The industry spent years deploying AI and forgot those basics. Fountain was built around them. That hasn’t changed.”

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