According to everything we’ve been hearing, the answer is an enthusiastic YES! While AI requirements are not yet showing up on a lot of our requests for staff (unless we ask about it), our research suggests that knowing AI is definitely a way for all employees to raise their salary demands. One report we saw using data attributed to PwC made the claim that workers with AI expertise are receiving salaries up to 56% higher than their non-AI friendly peers.
Jay Houston, president of the Addison Group a talent solutions company similar to ours, recently reported that in the areas his company services “Demand is outpacing capacity, or supply, allowing candidates with in-demand skills to negotiate premium salaries.” And the demand is expanding from top roles down to desk-level positions. Even clerical candidates can make themselves more attractive by having AI skills and applying them to roles predicted to be vulnerable to AI disruption. Higher-level roles such as data analysts, engineers, and data are areas where AI experience has a greater impact on salary premiums.
And how do you acquire these AI skills? As we talk to candidates, we’ve learned that many of those skills are self-taught. That’s why we continue to recommend that job candidates use their time in between jobs to invest in developing expertise in those areas of AI that are impacting their profession. As one consultant put it – “The genie is out of the bottle!” – and we continue to see that AI is providing new opportunities for employees to catapult their careers! It’s moving fast – not unlike the early 2000s where the internet was on fire!