AI is making workers more valuable, productive, and able to command higher wage premiums, with job numbers rising even in roles considered most automatable, according to PwC’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer, released this week.
The report is based on analysis of close to a billion job ads from six continents.
It finds that since the proliferation of GenAI in 2022, productivity growth has nearly quadrupled in industries most exposed to AI, including financial services and software publishing.
Between 2018 and 2022, productivity in those sectors grew by just 7 per cent.
By 2024, it had surged to 27 per cent. In contrast, growth in industries least exposed to AI, such as mining and hospitality, declined from 10 per cent to 9 per cent over the same period.
According to the report, 2024 data shows that the most AI-exposed industries are now seeing three times higher growth in revenue per employee compared with the least exposed.
“This research shows that the power of AI to deliver for businesses is already being realised. And we are only at the start of the transition,” said Carol Stubbings, Global Chief Commercial Officer at PwC.
She added that as Agentic AI is rolled out at enterprise scale, “the right combination of technology and culture can create dramatic new opportunities to reimagine how organisations work and create value.”
The data suggests that AI is not displacing workers, but rather increasing demand across a wide range of roles.
Job numbers are rising in virtually every type of AI-exposed occupation, even those considered highly automatable.
While occupations with lower exposure to AI saw job growth of 65 per cent between 2019 and 2024, the report notes that growth in more AI-exposed roles still reached 38 per cent.
It further explains that these more exposed occupations can be split into two groups.
In ‘automated’ roles, AI carries out specific tasks. In ‘augmented’ jobs, AI enhances a human’s performance.
Both categories have seen job numbers increase across every industry analysed, though augmented jobs are generally expanding at a faster pace.
Wages are rising in parallel. The report finds that wages are growing twice as fast in industries more exposed to AI, compared to those less affected. It states that this trend holds true for both automatable and augmentable roles.
Moreover, jobs that require AI skills offer a wage premium in every industry examined, with the average premium reaching 56 per cent, up from 25 per cent a year earlier.
These roles also continue to expand more rapidly than the labour market overall.
According to the findings, job postings requiring AI skills rose by 7.5 per cent in the past year, even as total job postings declined by 11.3 per cent.
While the broader trends around jobs and wages appear positive, the report warns that employers and employees must adjust to a faster rate of change.
It highlights that the skills sought by employers are now evolving 66 per cent faster in occupations most exposed to AI, up from 25 per cent last year.
The criteria for success in AI-exposed jobs are also shifting in other ways. Employer demand for formal degrees is declining across the board, but especially in roles affected by AI.
Between 2019 and 2024, the share of augmented jobs requiring a degree dropped from 66 per cent to 59 per cent.
For automated roles, the drop was even more pronounced—from 53 per cent to 44 per cent.
The report also draws attention to a gender imbalance. In every country analysed, more women than men are employed in AI-exposed roles.
As a result, it suggests that the pressure to adapt and upskill may disproportionately fall on women.
If businesses want to accelerate their growth and fully leverage the potential of AI, the report argues they must act now.
It calls on companies to put AI at the centre of their strategy. It recommends using AI for enterprise-wide transformation, treating it as a growth strategy rather than merely a tool for efficiency, and prioritising the adoption of Agentic AI.
Finally, it also urges firms to ensure their workforce has the skills needed to harness AI’s power and to build trust in the technology both within organisations and across society.
