AI reshapes global labour market into two distinct paths, rewarding human skills: PwC 2026 AI Jobs Barometer

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.

PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer, which analysed more than one billion job ads across six continents, including Ireland, also finds that AI is driving a ‘two-track’ global labour market with ‘professionalised’ roles - in which AI automates routine tasks, placing greater emphasis on human judgement and expertise - are growing faster than roles ‘democratised’ by AI – in which AI makes the role itself easier for non-experts to perform.

‘Professionalised’ roles (examples: radiologists or recruiters) are seeing twice the growth in available jobs than those categorised as ‘democratised’ (examples: IT service managers or medical secretaries).

At the entry level, AI appears to be increasing demand for more ‘senior’ skills from junior workers. Based on 2.4 million entry-level jobs analysed in the US, entry-level roles most exposed to AI are now seven times more likely to require traditionally senior-level ‘human-intensive’ skills like motivational leadership, strategic decision making and team building.

Job openings for these ‘seniorised’ entry-level roles have grown 35% since 2019, while other entry-level roles shrank 10%.

Ireland: AI hiring in Ireland almost doubles as adoption accelerates

AI hiring in Ireland almost doubled between 2024 and 2025 indicating increased AI adoption in the workforce.  As a result, the share of job postings requiring AI related skills reached 3.7% in 2025, up from around 2.3% in 2024.  In Ireland, jobs requiring specific AI skills are growing over five times (83%) faster since 2019 than the total jobs market (16%).

The research also shows that in Ireland, roles which include AI-related skills tend to be associated with higher advertised salaries, particularly in more AI-exposed industries such as technology and financial services. These roles typically reflect a combination of in-demand capabilities, with AI skills acting as a key enabler that enhances productivity and complements other high-value expertise.

In Ireland, more AI-exposed jobs are experiencing faster rates of skills transformation, with the most AI exposed jobs showing the largest skill shifts. For example, the top quartile of jobs exposed to AI in Ireland have seen a 4.45 times greater change in demanded skills in 2025 compared to 2019 (Just 1.15 times for the bottom quartile).

While AI user roles account for the majority of AI related jobs, growth has been strong across both AI user and developer roles: AI user roles increased 84% and AI developer roles increased 73% in 2025 over 2024 levels. This stronger growth in user roles highlights that AI adoption is becoming increasingly widespread across the workforce, extending well beyond specialist technical roles and into the day-to-day work of a broad range of roles.

Laoise Mullane, Director, Workforce Consulting and AI Adoption Lead, PwC Ireland, said: “Across the global economy, we’re starting to see a clearer divergence in how organisations are using AI to create value. Those seeing the strongest returns are using AI to amplify human expertise, accelerate innovation and unlock new sources of growth. As a result, they are pulling ahead not just on productivity, but on overall business performance, compared to those taking a more narrow, efficiency-led approach.

“In Ireland, we are seeing a similar pattern, with growing AI adoption across the workforce. However, the impact is more pronounced where organisations are using AI to rethink how work is done, rather than simply adding tools to existing processes. This means investing in skills and redesigning work to integrate AI in a meaningful way. PwC’s recent AI Performance survey reinforces this, showing that leading organisations are significantly more likely to embed AI into how work is structured, rather than simply layering tools on top of existing processes.”

AI is driving a productivity boom – and “super-star” companies most able to use AI are pulling ahead significantly

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.

Roles including AI-related skills are often associated with higher advertised salaries, alongside strong growth in AI job demand

As AI adoption increases, roles that include AI-related skills are associated with higher advertised salaries, with the global average difference estimated at around 62%, up from 57% last year. These roles typically combine AI capabilities with broader specialist skills and experience, reflecting the growing value placed on more advanced and technology-enabled work.

The level of difference varies across sectors, with higher differentials observed in industries such as consumer markets (118%), and more moderate levels in areas such as the public sector (16%), highlighting how demand for different skill combinations continues to evolve across the economy.

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 8.6%. This growth rate 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%).

Ger McDonough, Partner, Workforce Consulting, PwC Ireland, commented: “We’re seeing a shift in how experience and expertise play out in the workplace. In some areas, AI is taking on routine tasks and raising the bar on the skills people need, placing more emphasis on judgement, adaptability and leadership. In others, it is making certain tasks more accessible, broadening who can perform them. For organisations, it means taking a more deliberate approach to how talent is developed, ensuring people build the capabilities they need to thrive in this new working environment.”

About  PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer

The AI Jobs Barometer analysed more than one billion jobs advertisements in 27 territories including Ireland. The Barometer combines large-scale labour market, company financial and occupational task data to understand how AI is reshaping jobs, skills and productivity across the global economy. Additionally, this year’s Barometer includes targeted analysis of entry-level roles, including how the skill requirements of early-career jobs are changing in highly AI-exposed occupations. You can read the full report and learn more about the methodology and key takeaways at www.pwc.com.