AI and ml
According to PwC, AI hiring has increased by 61% despite a significant slowdown in vacancies as employers increasingly seek workers who can leverage AI, rather than build it.
According to PwC, the UK’s AI jobs boom is creating a dual-track labor market, where people happen to be making a healthy living helping businesses navigate AI-driven transformation.
The consulting giant’s latest AI Job Barometer shows that employment of AI specialists in the UK has increased by 61% in the past year, rising from 112,000 jobs in 2024 to 180,000 jobs in 2025, despite a 6.6% decline in overall job openings across the economy.
This headline number is the kind of thing a consulting firm would put in a press release, but the more interesting part comes later.
Employers are in no rush to hire machine learning engineers and model builders in large numbers, according to PwC’s analysis. Instead, they are increasingly looking for people who can use AI within their existing professions and business functions. The company found that so-called AI user roles grew by almost 66,000 over the year, while AI developer roles grew by just 2,600.
After years of proclaiming that AI would revolutionize everything from accounting to sandwich-making, companies seem to have reached an awkward point where someone actually needs to put the technology to work.
PwC argues that the result has been a “dual track” labor market. Jobs where AI can help skilled workers automate repetitive tasks and focus on higher-value work are growing faster than jobs where technology primarily facilitates tasks and lowers barriers to entry.
According to the report, roles most enhanced by AI have increased by 39 percent since 2018, while occupations whose tasks are primarily simplified by AI have increased by 17 percent.
The company’s wage data tells a similar story. The average wage premium for jobs requiring AI skills is now 34.2%, up from 11% a year ago. Consumer market companies offer premiums of up to 64 percent, while government and public sector employers offer premiums of up to 12 percent.
This is certainly good news for workers with AI skills. Nor is the conclusion likely to upset a company that makes a living advising on AI strategies.
The findings come amid growing concerns about the impact of AI on employment. A recent poll found that one in five Brits believes AI-driven layoffs could eventually cause social unrest, and another study found that office workers already spend nearly six hours each week reviewing, correcting, and redoing work produced by AI tools.
In contrast to the excitement surrounding AI, the employment surge appears to be concentrated in a surprisingly outdated category: people who know what they’re doing. ®
