11 hours ago
Workers' fears over AI are eased by rising wages and recruitment
People's fears for their job security have allayed and are quickly being replaced with optimism as companies are boosting wages and recruitment for even the most at-risk roles.
AI-skilled workers saw an average 56% wage premium in 2024, double the 25% in the previous year, the PwC 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer has found.
The study has also found a fourfold increase in productivity growth, while jobs even the most easily automated roles are showing jobs growth.
Wages are growing twice as fast in industries more exposed to AI versus less exposed, with wages rising in both automatable and augmentable jobs. The job security fears that people voiced at the outset of AI have reduced markedly since then.
Laoise Mullane, director of workforce consulting with PwC Ireland, said: '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.
'AI is amplifying and democratising expertise, enabling employees to multiply their impact and focus on higher-level responsibilities. With the right foundations, both companies and workers can re-define their roles and industries and emerge leaders in their field, particularly as the full gambit of applications becomes clearer.'
Jobs which require AI skills also offer a wage premium (over similar roles that don't require AI skills) in every industry analysed, with the average premium hitting 56%, up from 25% last year. Jobs that require such AI skills also continue to grow faster than all jobs — rising 7.5% from last year, even as total job postings fell 11.3%.
The picture in Ireland is particularly positive in terms of allaying people AI-related job anxieties; the number of AI-exposed roles has almost doubled since 2019.
In Ireland, the study also shows more job postings and higher demand for roles requiring AI-related skills. Job numbers in AI-exposed occupations in Ireland have grown 94% since 2019 — including positive growth in every type of occupation.
Augmentation-exposed jobs have seen much higher job growth across almost all sectors than automation exposed jobs, reflecting demand for workers who are enhanced by AI.
In Ireland, the results suggest that AI-exposed occupations are also undergoing transformation, requiring workers to reskill and upskill more frequently.
For example, the top quartile of occupations exposed to AI in Ireland have seen a 2.78 times greater change in demanded skills compared to the bottom quartile.
The survey responses suggest that AI is making workers more valuable, more productive, and more able to command higher wage premiums, with job numbers rising even in roles considered most automatable. The report is based on analysis of close to a billion job ads from six continents.
David Lee, chief technology officer, PwC Ireland.
David Lee, chief technology officer, PwC Ireland, said: 'The research shows that the power of AI to deliver for businesses is only at the start of the transition.
'As we roll out agentic AI at enterprise scale, we will see how the right combination of technology and culture can create dramatic new opportunities to reimage how organisations work and create value.'
The report finds that since GenAI's proliferation in 2022, productivity growth has nearly quadrupled in industries most exposed to AI (e.g. financial services, software publishing), rising from 7% from 2018-2022 to 27% from 2018-2024. In contrast, the rate of productivity growth in industries least exposed to AI (e.g. mining, hospitality) declined from 10% to 9% over the same period.
The 2024 data shows that the most AI-exposed industries are now seeing three times higher growth in revenue per employee than the least exposed.
While the picture on productivity, wages and jobs is broadly positive, the research does highlight the need for workers and businesses to adapt to a much faster pace of change. The skills sought by employers are changing 66% faster in occupations most exposed to AI, up from 25% last year.
What it takes to succeed in AI-exposed jobs is changing in other ways. Employer demand for formal degrees is declining for all jobs, but especially quickly for AI-exposed jobs. The percentage of jobs AI augments that require a degree fell 7 percentage points between 2019 and 2024 from 66% to 59%, and 9 percentage points (53% to 44%) for jobs AI automates.
Gerard McDonough, partner, workforce consulting, PwC Ireland.
Gerard McDonough, partner, workforce consulting, PwC Ireland, added: 'In Ireland, we are also seeing the productivity prize from AI: PwC's 2025 Irish CEO survey showed that 44% of Irish CEOs reported AI had increased efficiencies in their employees' time at work in the last 12 months.
'However, to reach full potential, close attention needs to be given to skills enhancement: PwC's Irish 2025 GenAI Business Leaders survey revealed that 73% of Irish business leaders are of the view that AI will require most of their workforce to develop new skills.
'AI's rapid advance is not just re-shaping industries, but fundamentally altering the workforce and the skills required. This is not a situation that employers can easily buy their way out of. Even if they can pay the premium required to attract talent with AI skills, those skills can quickly become out of date without investment in the systems to help the workforce learn.'
