PwC’s Report Highlights AI’s Impact On Jobs
PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer found that artificial intelligence is reshaping hiring, increasing demand for human skills and driving productivity growth.
A spokesperson said, “According to PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer, 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.
“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.
“Across all sectors, 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.
“In the Financial Services sector, AI is driving productivity, accelerating skills change and starting to create a redesign of entry level work.
- The sector records the highest AI Exposure Index of any sector, reflecting the significant share of roles with tasks that can be augmented or automated by AI. This high exposure is driving strong growth in AI hiring and positions in insurance, banking and asset management companies to integrate AI at scale.
- The Financial Services sector accounted for around 8.4% of total global job postings in 2012, compared with approximately 5% in 2025. Meanwhile, the share of AI hiring in the Financial Services sector has accelerated over recent years, reaching a 5.4% share in 2025.
- Furthermore, this growth is translating into value for Financial Services workers, with the sector enjoying a substantial 53% wage premium compared to non-AI roles; and productivity growth of 23%, making it the third highest across all sectors.
“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%].”
Joe Atkinson, Global Chief AI Officer, PwC, said, “Across the global economy, we’re beginning to see a new divide emerge between different models for talent and value creation. The companies seeing the greatest returns on AI are using it to amplify human expertise, accelerate innovation and create entirely new sources of value. As a result, they are pulling further ahead on productivity and growth than companies that focus primarily on automation.”
Chris Mills, Partner, PwC Bermuda, said, “The traditional connection between experience and expertise is shifting. With AI handling many routine tasks that once provided practical learning opportunities, there is now greater emphasis on judgement, leadership, and adaptability much earlier in professional journeys.
“Success will depend on how effectively organisations across sectors can build new capabilities and adapt to changing skills demands, with Financial Services emerging as one of the fastest-moving sectors in this transition.”
Read More About
Category: All, Business, technology
