AI AND ml

PwC says AI hiring jumped 61 percent despite wider slowdown in vacancies, with employers increasingly looking for workers who can use AI rather than build it

Britain's AI jobs boom is creating a two-track labor market, according to PwC, which just so happens to make a healthy living helping companies navigate AI-driven transformation.

The consulting giant's latest AI Jobs Barometer found hiring for AI specialists in the UK jumped 61 percent over the past year, rising from 112,000 roles in 2024 to 180,000 in 2025, even as overall job vacancies across the economy fell by 6.6 percent.

That headline figure is the sort of thing consultancies put in press releases, but the more interesting bit comes later.

PwC's analysis suggests employers aren't rushing to hire hordes of machine learning engineers and model builders. Instead, they're increasingly looking for people who can use AI inside existing professions and business functions. The firm found that so-called AI user roles grew by almost 66,000 positions during the year, while AI developer roles increased by just 2,600.

After years of declaring that AI will revolutionize everything from accounting to sandwich-making, companies appear to have reached the awkward stage where somebody actually must make the technology useful.

PwC argues the result is a "two-track" labor market. Jobs where AI helps skilled workers automate repetitive tasks and focus on higher-value work are growing faster than roles where the technology mainly makes tasks easier and lowers barriers to entry.

According to the report, roles most enhanced by AI have grown by 39 percent since 2018, compared with 17 percent growth in jobs where AI is primarily simplifying work.

The firm’s wage data tells a similar story. Jobs requiring AI skills now command an average wage premium of 34.2 percent, up from 11 percent a year ago. Consumer market companies are offering premiums as high as 64 percent, while government and public sector employers top out at 12 percent.

That's certainly good news for workers with AI skills. It's also not the sort of conclusion likely to upset a firm that advises clients on AI strategy for a living.

The findings land against a backdrop of growing anxiety about AI's impact on employment. Recent polling found one in five Britons believes AI-driven layoffs could eventually trigger civil unrest, while another survey found that office workers are already spending nearly six hours every week checking, correcting, or redoing work generated by AI tools.

For all the excitement around AI, the hiring surge appears to be concentrated in a surprisingly old-fashioned category: people who know what they're doing. ®