In today’s artificial intelligence (AI) environment, employees are becoming more valuable, more productive, capable of seeking jobs even in automatable roles, and able to ask their employers for higher wage premiums, according to PwC’s “2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer” report.
The report showed that, since generative AI (genAI) use spread in 2022, productivity growth has increased to 27 percent between 2018–24 from seven percent between 2018–22 among industries most exposed to AI, such as financial services and software publishing.
On the other hand, the report demonstrated that productivity growth has decreased from 10 percent to nine percent over the same period among industries least exposed to AI, including mining and hospitality. The report revealed that, in 2024, the industries most exposed to AI saw three times more revenue growth per employee compared with those least exposed to AI.
PwC’s report determined that, between 2019–24, jobs less exposed to AI experienced growth of 65 percent, while those more exposed to AI saw growth of 38 percent. The report found that, though total job postings decreased by 11.3 percent, occupations requiring AI skills increased by 7.5 percent from the previous year and maintained a swifter growth than all other occupations.
Automated v. augmented
In its report, PwC classified jobs within occupations more exposed to AI as “automated” for those including some tasks that AI could perform or “augmented” for those in which AI assisted humans in performing better work. The report revealed that, between 2019–24, both categories saw jobs grow in every industry studied, with augmented occupations generally growing more speedily.
“In contrast to worries that AI could cause sharp reductions in the number of jobs available – this year's findings show jobs are growing in virtually every type of AI-exposed occupation, including highly automatable ones,” said Joe Atkinson, PwC’s global chief AI officer, in the press release.
The report demonstrated that wages grew twice as swiftly in industries more exposed to AI compared with those less exposed, with wages increasing in both automatable and augmentable occupations.
PwC’s report showed that, across all industries studied, roles needing an AI skillset offered a wage premium over similar ones not requiring AI skills. The report found that AI-skilled workers experienced an average 56 percent wage premium in 2024, up from 25 percent the previous year.
The report revealed that the skills sought by employers were shifting 66 percent more swiftly in jobs most exposed to AI. The report demonstrated that employers’ requirements for formal degrees were decreasing for all occupations, especially for those exposed to AI.
“AI’s rapid advance is not just re-shaping industries, but fundamentally altering the workforce and the skills required,” said Pete Brown, PwC’s global workforce leader, in the press release. “This is not a situation that employers can easily buy their way out of.”
PwC’s report showed that, between 2019–24, AI-augmented jobs needing a degree declined by seven percent from 66 percent to 59 percent, while AI-automated jobs enforcing the same requirement decreased by nine percent from 53 percent to 44 percent. PwC shared that, in all countries studied, its report saw more women than men in AI-exposed roles.
According to PwC, businesses should consider the following actions in response to AI proliferation within the workforce:
- Utilize AI for enterprise-wide transformation
- Consider AI a growth strategy, not simply an efficiency strategy
- Prioritize agentic AI
- Equip their employees with the skills to maximize AI technology
- Foster trust to harness AI’s transformative possibilities
“As we roll out Agentic AI at enterprise scale, we are seeing that the right combination of technology and culture can create dramatic new opportunities to reimagine how organisations work and create value,” said Carol Stubbings, PwC’s global chief commercial officer, in the press release.
PwC’s report summarizes the findings in its analysis of nearly a billion job advertisements from six continents.