According to PwC’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer, workers who handle tasks such as prompt design and machine learning tuning now earn 56% more than those in the very same jobs who lack those abilities. Last year the gap was 25%, so pay has risen quite a bit.
This pay rise appears in every sector examined, from farming to software publishing. PwC records that demand for AI ready talent went up 7.5% during 2024 even while total job adverts fell 11.3%.
Marty Garza, Vice President for Air Operations Technology at Southwest Airlines, is happy the change. He says, “Rather than replacing employees, these advancements freed up valuable time, allowing our teams to think critically, solve complex problems and drive innovation.”
How Is Productivity Responding To These Tools?
Productivity numbers echo the wage story. Sectors most open to AI logged a 27% go up in revenue per employee between 2018 and 2024, 3 times the pace in areas with little AI.
PwC links the turning point to the late-2022 release of ChatGPT 3.5, which encouraged companies to test generative software at scale.
Every sector in the study now reports heavier use of intelligent systems, even fields such as mining and construction that once seemed immune. Revenue per worker in these fields has quadrupled since 2022.
A hospitality group that introduced digital agents cut review times by 94% and lifted guest satisfaction by roughly 10%, proving that software can sharpen routine tasks and release staff for higher level work.
Are Jobs Disappearing Or Evolving?
Fears of mass layoffs are not supported by the data. From 2019 to 2024 job adverts in highly exposed occupations grew 38% worldwide.
Posts with lower exposure grew faster at 65%, yet hiring in exposed work stays steady.
Both automatable and augmentable categories keep recruiting. Data entry clerks move toward analysis duties while customer representatives handle thornier cases.
PwC presents a worker named Amina who uses agents to collect research, giving her more time to shape insight and win clients. John, a support representative, now steers tense calls while AI reviews earlier records for guidance.
The study shows wages in exposed sectors increasing at twice the pace seen elsewhere, which demonstrates that new tasks bring added value.
Which Skills Are Moving To The Front?
Skill demands are quickly changing, as PwC reports that the list of abilities requested in adverts changes 66% faster in AI heavy jobs than in low exposure posts.
With formal degrees, the share of AI augmented adverts asking for a university certificate fell 7% to 59% over 5 years.
Pete Brown, Global Workforce Leader at PwC UK, says, “Core skills used to last four to six years. Now, in an AI era, skills morph every eighteen months.”
What Does The Data Mean For Equality?
The change has clear gender implications. In every nation covered, a higher share of women than men works in AI exposed posts.
That places women nearer the front line of skill change. PwC’s Workforce Radar reports female AI adoption in the United States trails male uptake, raising the risk of a wage gap.
As working age populations fall in many economies, the calmer growth of AI exposed jobs could match available talent and ease labour shortages.
PwC calculates that well-designed and trusted AI programmes could lift global GDP by up to 15%.
What Can Employers And Staff Do?
- Map current skills against future projects so training covers clear gaps.
- Give short practical courses in prompt design, data ethics and critical thinking to keep teams ahead of the 18 month skills cycle.
- Share direct examples such as time saved or deals won to show employees that AI raises their value.
- Set strict rules on data quality, model testing and accountability so clients and staff feel safe when using new tools.
- Track pay patterns by gender and occupation to spot gaps early and act before they grow larger.
