Artificial intelligence is splitting the global labor market into two distinct tracks, increasing the value of human judgment and leadership, according to PwC's 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer. The report, based on an analysis of over one billion job advertisements across 27 countries, shows that companies adopting AI are hiring faster and paying higher wages than their peers, while entry-level roles increasingly demand senior-level skills.
A two-track labor market
The report identifies a divide between professionalised roles, where AI automates routine tasks and amplifies human expertise, and democratised roles, where AI makes the work easier for non-experts. Professionalised positions, such as radiologists or recruiters, are seeing twice the growth in available jobs and 42% faster salary growth compared to democratised roles like IT service managers or medical secretaries.
Companies most able to use AI recorded 34% productivity growth in 2025 relative to 2018, compared to 24% for the least AI-exposed firms. For HR professionals tracking these shifts, understanding AI for Human Resources becomes essential to align workforce planning with these emerging productivity gaps.
Entry-level roles demand senior skills
The traditional apprenticeship model of early-career work is shifting. An analysis of 2.4 million entry-level jobs in the US reveals that positions most exposed to AI are seven times more likely to require traditionally senior-level skills like leadership, creativity, or face-to-face interaction. Job openings for these senior-level entry roles grew 35% since 2019, while other entry-level positions declined by 10%.
"The traditional relationship between experience and expertise is changing," said Pete Brown, Global Workforce Leader at PwC. "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."
Wage premiums and the super-star effect
Companies at the top of AI adoption are pulling ahead significantly. The top 20% of the most AI-exposed companies achieved average labor productivity growth of 163% relative to 2018. Headcount growth at these most AI-exposed companies also outpaced the least exposed ones, at 52% compared to 36% in 2025.
Workers with specific AI skills, such as prompt engineering or machine learning, command an average wage premium of 62%, up from 57% last year. This premium varies by sector, reaching 118% in consumer markets and 16% in the public sector. Jobs requiring these specific AI skills grew 69%, roughly eight times faster than the overall jobs market growth of 9%.
"Across the global economy, we're beginning to see a new divide emerge between different models for talent and value creation," said Joe Atkinson, Global Chief AI Officer at PwC. "The companies seeing the greatest returns on AI are using it to amplify human expertise, accelerate innovation and create entirely new sources of value."
Why this matters for HR professionals
Human resources teams must redesign early-career development programs to replace the routine tasks that AI now handles. Instead of relying on basic administrative work to build foundational knowledge, organizations should create structured mentorship and decision-making opportunities for junior staff. Implementing an AI Learning Path for HR Managers can help talent development teams identify which human-intensive skills to prioritize when evaluating and training early-career employees.
Your membership also unlocks:
