AI Creates Two-Track Global Labour Market as Human Skills Become More Valuable, PwC Finds
PETALING JAYA: Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the global labour market, creating two distinct career paths in which human skills such as creativity, judgement and leadership are becoming increasingly valuable, according to PwC’s 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer.
The report, which analysed more than one billion job advertisements across six continents, found that AI is not simply replacing workers but is reshaping the nature of work and redefining the skills employers seek.
PwC identified two broad categories of jobs emerging in the AI era: “professionalised” roles and “democratised” roles.
In professionalised jobs, AI automates routine tasks, allowing workers to focus on higher-level responsibilities that require human expertise, judgement and creativity.
In democratised roles, however, AI simplifies tasks to the extent that they can be performed by people with less experience or specialised knowledge.
The report found that professionalised jobs are growing significantly faster in terms of employment opportunities and wages compared with democratised jobs.
Occupations such as radiologists and recruiters, where AI acts as a productivity tool for experts, are experiencing twice the growth in job openings and 42 per cent faster wage growth than jobs where AI lowers barriers to entry.
PwC also found that companies making the greatest use of AI are expanding faster than their peers.
Businesses operating in sectors with the highest AI exposure recorded workforce growth of 52 per cent since 2018, compared with 36 per cent among companies in sectors less affected by AI.
Wage growth followed a similar trend, with AI-intensive companies posting a 24 per cent increase compared with 17 per cent for less AI-exposed firms.
Perhaps the most striking finding was the emergence of so-called “super-star companies” that have successfully integrated AI into their operations.
The top 20 per cent of these companies achieved labour productivity gains of 163 per cent relative to 2018, almost five times higher than the average productivity growth recorded by other AI-exposed firms.
PwC Global Chief AI Officer Joe Atkinson said the findings demonstrate that AI is not necessarily replacing human workers but rather amplifying the capabilities of skilled employees.
“Across the global economy, we are beginning to see a new divide emerge between different models for talent and value creation.
“The companies seeing the greatest returns from AI are using it to amplify human expertise, accelerate innovation and create entirely new sources of value,” he said.
The report also highlighted a surge in demand for AI-related skills.
Jobs requiring specialised AI capabilities such as prompt engineering, machine learning and AI model development are growing almost eight times faster than the overall labour market.
While the broader jobs market expanded by just nine per cent, AI-specific roles increased by 69 per cent.
Workers with AI skills are also commanding significantly higher salaries.
According to PwC, the average wage premium for employees with AI expertise has risen to 62 per cent, up from 57 per cent a year earlier.
The premium varies widely across industries, reaching as high as 118 per cent in consumer markets and around 16 per cent in government and public sector roles.
The report also revealed significant changes at the entry level of the workforce.
An analysis of 2.4 million entry-level jobs in the United States showed that roles most exposed to AI are now seven times more likely to require traditionally senior-level skills.
These include leadership, creativity, decision-making abilities and interpersonal communication.
Openings for such “seniorised” entry-level jobs have increased by 35 per cent since 2019, while other entry-level roles have declined by 10 per cent.
PwC Global Workforce Leader Pete Brown said the traditional relationship between experience and expertise is changing rapidly.
“AI is removing some of the routine work that once acted as an apprenticeship while increasing demand for judgement, leadership and adaptability much earlier in careers.
“Organisations need to rethink how they develop talent if they want people to thrive in this new environment,” he said.
The report concluded that as AI adoption accelerates, companies and workers that combine technological capabilities with uniquely human skills will be best positioned to succeed in the evolving global economy.
