LONDON, 15 June 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- AI is rapidly reshaping the skills employers want most from workers – increasing the emphasis on human skills such as judgement, creativity and leadership – as companies most able to use AI continue to expand hiring faster than their peers, according to PwC's 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer, released today.
The Barometer, which analysed more than one billion job ads across six continents, also finds that AI is driving a 'two-track' global labour market in which 'professionalised' roles – in which AI automates routine tasks so human judgement and expertise are emphasized – are growing faster than roles 'democratised' by AI – in which AI makes the role itself easier for non-experts to perform.
'Professionalised' roles (such as radiologists or recruiters) are seeing twice the growth in available jobs and 42% faster salary growth than those categorised as 'democratised' (such as IT service managers or medical secretaries).
At the entry level, AI appears to be increasing demand for more 'senior' skills from junior workers. Based on 2.4 million entry-level jobs analysed in the US, entry-level roles most exposed to AI are now seven times more likely to require traditionally senior-level 'human-intensive' skills like leadership, creativity or face-to-face interactions.
Job openings for these 'seniorised' entry-level roles have grown 35% since 2019, while other entry-level roles shrank 10%.
, Global Chief AI Officer, PwC, said:
The report finds widening divergence between companies most and least exposed to AI. Companies operating in the most AI-exposed sectors recorded 34% productivity growth in 2025 relative to 2018, compared to 24% for the companies least able to use AI.
Within this group, a pronounced "super-star" effect is emerging. The top 20% of the most AI-exposed companies achieved average labour productivity growth of 163% relative to 2018 – nearly five times higher than the most AI-exposed companies overall.
Perhaps most surprisingly, headcount growth at the most AI-exposed companies is outpacing growth at the least AI-exposed companies – 52% relative to 36% in 2025, based on 2018 baseline levels.
As companies continue to boost productivity with AI, the average wage premium for workers with AI skills continued to surge higher – hitting 62%, up from 57% last year.
The wage premium varies by industry: as high as 118% in some sectors, such as consumer markets, and 16% in government and public sector work.
Jobs requiring specific AI skills – such as prompt engineering or machine learning – have also soared, growing roughly eight times (69%) as fast as the overall jobs market, at 9%. The number of AI jobs is almost twice as high as 2024, with growth in AI jobs outpacing all jobs since 2015.
Sectors including technology, media and telecommunications (11%) and professional services (6%) sectors saw the highest share in AI job growth – with health at the lowest end (less than 1%)
, Global Workforce Leader, PwC, said:
PwC's 2026 AI Jobs Barometer analysed more than one billion jobs advertisements in 27 countries and territories. The Barometer combines large-scale labour market, company financial and occupational task data to understand how AI is reshaping jobs, skills, wages and productivity across the global economy. Additionally, this year's Barometer includes targeted analysis of entry-level roles, including how the skill requirements of early-career jobs are changing in highly AI-exposed occupations. You can read the full report and learn more about the methodology and key takeaways at .
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