AI linked to a fourfold increase in productivity growth and 56% wage premium, while jobs grow even in the most easily automated roles: PwC 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer

• Workers see rising wages: AI-skilled workers see average 56% wage premium in 2024, double the 25% in the previous year
• Confounding expectations, data shows job availability grew 38% in the roles more exposed to AI, albeit below the growth rate in less exposed occupations
• Industries ‘most exposed’ to AI saw 3x higher growth in revenue per employee (27%) compared to those ‘least exposed’ (9%)
• The skills sought by employers are changing 66% faster in jobs ‘most exposed’ to AI

Bucharest, 9 June 2025 – AI is making workers more valuable, productive, and able to command higher wage premiums, with job numbers rising even in roles considered most automatable, according to PwC’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer, released today. The report is based on analysis of close to a billion job ads from six continents.

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. 2024 data shows that the most AI exposed industries are now seeing 3x higher growth in revenue per employee than the least exposed.

"The impact of AI is already visible in productivity, revenue, and labor market dynamics. AI agents and emerging new applications streamline operations and open opportunities to rethink how organizations innovate and achieve sustainable results. AI is no longer just a technological option but must be considered part of the growth strategy. Thus, companies that swiftly adopt AI and prepare their employees to work efficiently with these technologies will have a clear competitive advantage," stated Gabriel Voicilă, Technology Partner at PwC Romania.

Job numbers are rising in virtually every type of AI-exposed occupation, even those highly automatable

Contrary to some expectations, the data from the report does not show job or wage destruction from AI.

"We observe that the demand for jobs exposed to AI is increasing and is rapidly transforming the skills required by employers. The conclusions of our report show that human potential remains essential in the AI era. With the right support, employees can take on more complex and valuable roles. However, the real challenge will be their ability to keep up with technology, a race in which continuous learning is necessary," says Gabriel Voicilă.

While occupations with lower exposure to AI saw strong job growth (65%) in recent years (2019-2024), growth remained robust even in more exposed occupations (38%). Within more exposed occupations, jobs can be further divided into ‘automated’ (i.e., the job contains some tasks that AI can carry out) and ‘augmented’ (i.e., where AI helps a human do their job better). Across both classifications between 2019-24, job numbers are growing in every industry analysed, although augmented jobs are generally growing faster.

Wages are growing twice as fast in AI-exposed industries  

Wages are growing twice as fast in industries more exposed to AI versus less exposed, with wages rising in both automatable and augmentable jobs.

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 skills earthquake accelerates – AI is creating deep change in the skills workers need to succeed  

While the picture on productivity, wages and jobs are 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.

The findings show that AI’s impact on women and men may be unequal – in every country analysed, more women than men are in AI-exposed roles, suggesting the skills pressure facing women will be higher.

The AI business imperative

If businesses are to turbocharge their growth and leverage the opportunity afforded by AI, they must put AI front-and-centre, now. The report recommends five key actions for businesses:

1. Use AI for enterprise-wide transformation.

2. Treat AI as a growth strategy, not just an efficiency strategy.

3. Prioritise Agentic AI.

4. Enable your workforce to have the skills to make the most of AI’s power.

5. Unlock AI’s transformative potential by building trust.

About the PwC 2025 AI Jobs Barometer

The PwC 2025 AI Jobs Barometer analysed nearly a billion job postings and thousands of global financial reports to reveal the impact of AI on jobs, salaries, skills, and productivity. The barometer provides up-to-date data on the exposure of jobs to AI, classifying them based on how much they can be automated or assisted. You can access the full report here: www.pwc.com/aijobsbarometer

About PwC

At PwC, we help clients build trust and reinvent so they can turn complexity into competitive advantage. We’re a tech-forward, people-empowered network with more than 370,000 people in 149 countries. Across audit and assurance, tax and legal, deals and consulting we help build, accelerate and sustain momentum. Find out more at www.pwc.com