Artificial intelligence is reorganizing the global labor market around two distinct trajectories. On the one hand, it promotes positions in which it automates routine tasks and increases the value of judgment, creativity, leadership and professional experience. On the other hand, it makes it easier for certain functions to be performed by people with a lower level of specialization.
This is one of the main conclusions of PwC’s “Global AI Jobs Barometer 2026”, prepared from the analysis of more than 1 billion job offers on six continents. The study indicates that AI is generating a new division between “professionalized” and “democratized” jobs, with different results in job creation, salary evolution and skill requirements.
- Professionalized positions are those in which technology absorbs part of the mechanical work and allows the professional to focus on complex decisions, technical expertise and human relationships. PwC includes in this category profiles such as radiologists or recruitment managers.
- Democratized jobs, on the other hand, are those in which AI simplifies the function itself and allows non-experts to perform it more easily. Among the examples cited are those responsible for technological services and medical secretaries.
According to the report, professionalized positions are growing twice as fast as democratized ones and are registering 42% higher salary growth. The data suggests that the greatest economic value is not necessarily concentrated in the tasks that AI can perform by itself, but in those where it amplifies human capabilities that are difficult to automate.
Companies that use AI best increase their workforce the most
The Barometer challenges the idea that greater use of artificial intelligence necessarily leads to reduced employment. The companies most exposed to this technology have recorded a staff growth of 52% compared to 2018 levels, compared to the 36% observed in companies with less exposure.
The difference is also seen in salaries. Companies with the greatest capacity to incorporate AI have experienced salary growth of 24%, while in those with the least exposure it has been 17%.
“Companies that reap the greatest returns from AI are using it to amplify the human experience”
PwC interprets these results as a sign that organizations that get the most value from AI are not using it solely to automate processes or reduce costs. They also use it to expand the capacity of their professionals, accelerate innovation, enter new markets and develop additional sources of income. “Across the global economy we are beginning to see a new division between different models of talent and value creation”said Joe Atkinson, Global Chief AI Officer at PwC. “Companies that reap the greatest returns from AI are using it to amplify the human experience, accelerate innovation, and create entirely new sources of value. As a result, they are widening their advantage in productivity and growth over those that focus primarily on automation.”he explained.
The gap between companies also extends to productivity. Companies that operate in the sectors most exposed to AI registered a productivity growth of 34% in 2025 compared to 2018, compared to 24% for those with less capacity to use it. Within the most exposed group, a particularly pronounced effect also appears among the companies with the best performance. The 20% at the top achieved an average growth in labor productivity of 163% compared to 2018. This figure is almost five times higher than that recorded by the group of companies most exposed to artificial intelligence.
PwC notes that since 2022, when AI adoption accelerated, companies with the greatest exposure have tripled their advantage in labor productivity growth over those with the least exposure. The report calls these organizations “star companies” and highlights that their results do not respond solely to a greater degree of automation. Its advantage comes from the ability to combine technology, human experience, new operating models and business development.
AI jobs are growing almost eight times faster
Jobs that require specific skills in artificial intelligence are growing at a much faster rate than the general employment market.
Jobs requiring knowledge such as instructional engineering or machine learning have increased by 69%, compared to 9% of all job offers. This means that its growth is almost eight times faster.
The number of positions related to AI is also almost double that of 2024, and its rate of expansion has exceeded that of the market as a whole since 2015. Technology, media and telecommunications are the sectors with the greatest presence of this type of opportunities, with 11%. They are followed by professional services, with 6%. At the opposite extreme is the healthcare sector, where jobs specifically linked to AI skills represent less than 1%.
The study also analyzes the speed with which the requested skills evolve. In jobs most exposed to artificial intelligence, the skills required are changing more than twice as fast as in jobs with less exposure. The difference has increased by 75% compared to the previous year, which indicates that the transformation of professional profiles continues to accelerate.
New tasks added to AI-exposed jobs are 2.5 times more likely to require intensely human skills, such as empathy, judgment, creativity and leadership. PwC notes that these capabilities gain value as technology takes on a greater share of routine work. Professional advantage thus shifts from mechanical execution to interpretation, decision making, and interaction with other people.
The career ladder is getting shorter
One of the most significant changes is in access to the labor market. PwC has analyzed 2.4 million entry-level job openings in the United States and has identified a growing “seniorization” of these positions.
Junior roles most exposed to artificial intelligence are seven times more likely to request skills traditionally linked to experienced profiles, such as leadership, creativity, strategic thinking, judgment or face-to-face interaction. Entry opportunities that require these skills have grown by 35% since 2019. In the same period, the rest of the initial jobs have decreased by 10%.
AI reduces initial learning tasks and advances the assumption of complex responsibilities
This suggests that AI is not generally eliminating the top positions in a professional career, but it is changing what companies expect from those who access them. Technology is absorbing some of the routine tasks that historically allowed learning by doing, forcing young workers to confront complex responsibilities sooner.
“The traditional relationship between experience and specialized knowledge is changing”said Pete Brown, Global Workforce Leader at PwC. “AI is eliminating some of the routine work that previously functioned as learning, while increasing the demand for judgment, leadership and adaptability much earlier in the career,” has explained.
The transformation of entry-level positions poses a challenge to traditional models of professional development. The early stages of a career typically relied on tasks of lesser complexity, accompanied by supervision and a gradual acquisition of responsibilities. When those functions are automated, the transition to higher-value activities can occur faster. However, workers may also lose part of the practical journey that allowed them to develop experience before making important decisions.
What companies should do
PwC recommends business leaders use artificial intelligence to pursue growth and not simply seek efficiency. This means applying it to develop revenue, access markets, create new value propositions and establish collaborations across industries.
Organizations must also analyze how the human experience required in each position changes to correctly target their investments in talent and training.
The report highlights the potential of agentic AI as a complement to professional skills. A worker managing multiple agents can significantly expand the scope of their experience and manage tasks on a larger scale.
PwC also advises redesigning your first career paths. Onboarding, support and learning programs must first prepare employees for leadership, relationships with interlocutors and strategic decisions.
The firm finally defends a simultaneous investment in technological and human skills. Knowing how to use AI will be important, but so will empathy, judgment, creativity, adaptability and leadership skills.
The study thus depicts a labor market in which technology does not automatically eliminate human value. Redistributes it. The functions that evolve best are those in which AI removes part of the routine work and makes the contribution of experience, judgment and decision-making more visible.
