The Fearless Future: 2025 AI Jobs Barometer

AI can make workers more valuable, not less – even in the most highly automatable jobs.

This is our conclusion from analysing close to a billion job ads and thousands of company financial reports from six continents to uncover AI's impact on jobs, wages, skills and workers' productivity. Our analysis captures AI's impact as Agentic AI – which means AI that can plan and act autonomously to achieve goals – is starting to gain more widespread adoption. In this report, we analyse AI's impact on both augmentable jobs (jobs that contain many tasks in which AI can enhance or support human judgement and expertise), and automatable jobs (jobs that contain many tasks that can be autonomously completed by AI).  

• AI-exposed jobs are jobs that contain many tasks in which AI can be used. Example jobs: financial analysts, data entry workers. We use 'AI-powered' as an equivalent term to AI-exposed. 
• Augmentable jobs are AI-exposed jobs in which AI enhances or supports human judgement and expertise on many tasks. Example jobs: surgeons, judges. 
• Automatable jobs are AI-exposed jobs in which AI can carry out many tasks. Example jobs: software coders, customer service workers.  
• AI-exposed industries are industries that contain many job roles in which AI can be used. For example, software publishing is an AI-exposed industry. 

We analyse AI exposure (the ability to use AI) as a proxy for AI uptake, though actual levels of AI uptake may lag AI exposure. As levels of AI usage grow, the effects we find in this report may be magnified.

Let's meet two workers whose experiences show what the future holds for millions of workers, our data suggests. First, let's meet Amina. She is an information analyst and AI is augmenting her analytical abilities. Amina now instructs AI agents to do research and draft reports for her, freeing her to spend more time interpreting and refining the reports, servicing clients and developing new business. She has had to build new skills and be adaptable (she says she hasn't learned so much so fast since school), but she is now enjoying her job more and generating more revenue for her company.  

John is a customer support agent and AI is automating many parts of his role, including handling the simpler queries John dealt with in the past. John worried that AI might replace him, but in fact AI has enhanced his capabilities. Now John helps customers with more complex queries like navigating tricky product issues or de-escalating tense situations with empathy. AI helps with these trickier situations too by, for example, automatically reviewing thousands of similar customer cases to suggest solutions. John's value to his company has grown from question handler to complex problem solver. John's experience shows that while augmentation versus automation is a useful distinction, automation can augment what workers can achieve.  

Millions of AI-powered workers like Amina and John are helping companies create more value. Industries most exposed to AI – which means industries most able to use AI (software publishing, for example) – are achieving 3x higher growth in revenue per employee than in industries least able to use AI (such as logging). 

Is AI really the cause of this surge in productivity? We can't prove causation with certainty, but we do know that revenue growth in AI-exposed industries accelerated sharply in 2022, the year that the launch of ChatGPT 3.5 awakened the world to AI's power. Since then, as companies have raced to leverage this technology, the value created in industries best positioned to use AI has skyrocketed.  

In the space of two years, industries most able to use AI have changed from productivity laggards to leaders, suggesting that investments in AI are paying off. AI's promise is proving to be real, and we are only in the early days of AI adoption. 

Agentic AI: Workers can be much more productive when supported by digital agents  

AI agents are an advanced digital workforce capable of reasoning, executing tasks, understanding context, creating innovative solutions and learning from their errors. For human workers, having AI agents is like having tireless, hyper-intelligent executive assistants who understand objectives, plan strategically and drive action. Human workers can command teams of digital agents to get more done, faster – which helps unlock new levels of productivity, innovation and efficiency. For example, an AI agent in sales can craft pitches, track leads, schedule meetings and update CRM – so a human salesperson can close the deal. 

Wages are rising for AI-powered workers, even in the most highly automatable roles 

What is happening to the wages of the world's Aminas and Johns and their colleagues? Wages are growing two times faster in industries most versus least exposed to AI. It appears that as Amina and John create more value, their wages may be rising too.  

The next point may surprise some people. Wages are rising even in the jobs that are most highly automatable by AI such as customer service agent. Automation can have different effects: it can displace people from roles, or it can change the nature of people's jobs, freeing them from automatable tasks so they can focus on other (often higher value) tasks. Our data suggests that, on the whole, automation is having the latter effect. Concerns that AI is devaluing automatable roles in the aggregate may be misplaced.  

The value that AI-powered workers bring is apparent in the wage premium for workers with advanced AI skills (for example, machine learning or prompt engineering). We compared the wages of workers in a given occupation – logistics managers, for example – who differ only on whether they have advanced AI skills. On average, the wages of workers with AI skills are 56% higher. What's more, every industry we analysed pays wage premiums for AI skills. 

In Ireland, such AI upskilling will be pervasive in the years ahead: our 2025 GenAI Business Leaders Survey revealed that 73% of Irish business leaders are of the view that AI will require most of their workforce to develop new skills. 

PwC case study: AI agents take on routine tasks so people can achieve more 

Here are some real-world examples of how we've already helped clients use AI agents to help their workforce create more value:  

• A major technology company reimagined customer engagement by deploying an AI agent-powered, omnichannel contact centre. With predictive intent modelling, adaptive dialogue and real-time analytics, the system reduced phone time by nearly 25%, cut call transfers by up to 60% and boosted customer satisfaction by approximately 10%. 
• A large hospitality company streamlined management of their brand standards across their global portfolio by deploying agentic workflows within a modern, AI-powered platform. Intelligent agents now automate updates, approvals and compliance tracking – reducing review times by up to 94%. 
• A global healthcare company transformed cancer care by deploying agentic AI workflows across oncology practices. Intelligent agents streamlined clinical and operational processes – automating the extraction, standardisation and querying of unstructured documents. Results included a 50% improvement in access to actionable clinical insights and a nearly 30% reduction in staff administrative burden through AI-powered document search and synthesis.

The impact of AI on job numbers is complex  

Does the advent of AI mean that some jobs, such as data entry clerk or software coder, may no longer exist in their previous forms? Yes, it does, and as we've seen many jobs may evolve into higher value roles (from data entry clerk to data analyst, for example). The critical questions for society are: are jobs being created faster than they are displaced, and do people have the skills to adapt to a changing jobs market? 

Let's look at job numbers first. Job numbers are growing in virtually every type of AI-exposed occupation with only two exceptions at the global level (keyboard clerks, and information and communication technology professionals). However, job numbers are growing more slowly in occupations more exposed to AI (39% growth in the past five years) versus occupations less exposed to AI (65% growth in the past five years).   

In Ireland specifically, job numbers in AI-exposed occupations have grown by 94% since 2019. This growth is positive across all types of occupations, though slower compared to less AI-exposed jobs. On average, most occupations in Ireland see positive growth in job postings over this period, at 162%. The top quartile of AI-exposed occupations sees an average growth of 66%, while the bottom quartile experiences a 248% growth rate. 

 The Irish results also suggest that AI-exposed occupations are also undergoing transformation, requiring workers to reskill and upskill more frequently. For example, the top quartile of occupations exposed to AI in Ireland have seen a 2.78 times greater change in demanded skills compared to the bottom quartile.     

Is gentler job growth helpful as working age populations decline? 

More than a quarter of the world's population now lives in countries with declining working age populations and by the 2050s, it will be more than half. Gentler job growth in AI-exposed occupations could be helpful for countries with declining shares of working age people among their citizens. Could AI help to bring about a 'Goldilocks' era of job growth that is just right for the size of the working age population and avert 'a looming economic crisis as older populations expand and the pool of workers shrinks'?

Contrary to the concerns of some observers that AI could cause sharp reductions in job numbers (especially in automatable roles), job numbers are in fact growing for both automatable and augmentable jobs in all industries.  

Job numbers have grown more slowly in industries that were the earliest and fastest adopters of AI such as financial services and information and communication. This makes sense given these early adopter industries have experienced gentler AI-linked job growth for longer. 

One key to job creation continuing to outpace job displacement is 'thinking big' with AI, which means using it not just to perform the jobs of the past but to create the jobs of the future. This also helps to maximise AI's value and impact for companies. 

Implication for business leaders: AI as a growth strategy 

Treat AI as a growth strategy, not just an efficiency strategy. We find that job numbers are growing in AI-exposed occupations, suggesting that companies are using AI not just to cut headcount but rather to help workers create more value. Companies who use AI only to reduce staff numbers may miss out on the much bigger opportunities to use AI to claim new markets or generate new revenue streams.

Thinking big with AI is key to maximising its positive impact for workers and companies 

'Thinking small' with AI means using it in a narrow, backward-looking way to perform tasks or deliver products as in the past. This approach traps us in a limited vision of what the technology can achieve – rather like if electricity had been used only to replace candles with ‘electric candles’ rather than help to create computing, telecommunications, satellites, air travel and countless other innovations. Thinking small can tend to displace workers by limiting aspirations to reshaping existing practices. 

‘Thinking big’ with AI, on the other hand, means approaching AI as a transformative tool, using it to unlock new capabilities, products and even industries. AI, if used with imagination, could spark a flowering of new jobs and new business models. For example, two of every three jobs in the US today did not exist in 1940, and many of these new jobs were enabled by advances in technology. 

Our data suggests that companies are so far thinking big with AI. Rather than using AI only to reduce headcount, companies appear to be using it to help many workers in even the most highly automatable roles to create more value.  

The skills earthquake is accelerating 

AI is creating rapid change in the skills required to succeed in AI-powered jobs. The skills sought by employers are changing 66% faster in jobs most versus least exposed to AI, more than 2.5x faster than last year. Paralegals, for example, have in the past needed the skills to manually review documents, summarise case law and draft standard legal documents. Now that AI can support with those tasks, paralegals need the skills to operate AI tools and, more than ever, to demonstrate abilities such as critical thinking and collaboration. 

In Ireland, the information and communication sector leads in AI job postings, with AI-related job postings more than doubling from around 6.3% in 2018 to 13.9% in 2024. This indicates a growing demand for AI skills in this sector, suggesting that workers in this field may need to rapidly adapt and upskill to meet changing job requirements. 

As employers support workers to acquire new skills at pace, they should also consider how to strengthen employee trust in AI. PwC research with the World Economic Forum, based on case studies of early adopters of AI, finds that building employee trust in AI is critical to successful use of the technology. 

What it takes to succeed in AI-exposed jobs is changing in other ways. Employer demand for formal degrees is declining for all jobs but especially quickly for AI-exposed ones. Causes may include:  

AI helps people rapidly build and command expert knowledge (the ‘democratisation of expertise’), which could make formal qualifications less relevant. 

Rapid skills change and knowledge turnover may mean formal degrees are more rapidly out of date. 

Strong demand for people with AI skills may encourage employers to look beyond a limited pool of workers with formal training.  

For workers, a greater emphasis on skills over degrees in hiring may help to democratise opportunity, opening doors for those who lack the time or resources to gain formal degrees. In AI-exposed fields, what matters is increasingly what people can do today, not what they studied in the past. To succeed, workers will likely need to demonstrate adaptability, tech fluency, and skills that complement AI like critical thinking. Training may continue to evolve toward micro, hands-on and lifelong learning. 

Implications for business leaders: skills, employee engagement and trust  

• Map the skills your workers have now, the skills that are needed, and how to close the gaps. As AI creates huge churn in the skills workers need, build a clear, data-based picture of skills gaps and how to close them – for example, you could choose to hire, upskill or rely on technology (sometimes called ‘buy, build, or bot’). 
• Show your people how AI benefits them. Many workers fear being made obsolete by AI. Help your people see that AI empowers them and embrace the technology, which is critical if AI is to help the organisation. Our findings demonstrate that AI can make workers more valuable, not less.  
• Unlock AI’s transformative potential by building trust. The growth dividend from AI is not guaranteed and depends on more than just technical success – it also hinges on responsible deployment, clear governance and public and organisational trust.

Business leaders should help their people navigate the profound AI-led skills transformation that has more than doubled in speed in the last year. This includes helping people build the skills to use AI systems and to navigate how AI is changing work to make it more complex, judgement-based and creative.

AI may be upskilling automatable roles  

Automatable roles are experiencing the greatest skills disruption as AI takes on some tasks including routine, repetitive ones. In contrast, jobs augmentable by AI are seeing more gradual skills change (though still faster than in less AI-exposed jobs), perhaps because the technology tends to support existing tasks rather than remove them.  

 Since automatable jobs are experiencing strong skills disruption – but growing wages and job numbers – our data suggests that automatable jobs are being reshaped to create more value, perhaps by shifting toward more complex or creative tasks.  

AI myth-busting  

Our findings give us reason to challenge what may turn out to be myths about AI's impact. 

Women have greater opportunities – and face greater risks – from AI 

In every country we analysed, more women than men are in AI-exposed jobs. This means women have greater opportunities – and risks – from AI. As we have seen, AI can make workers more valuable, but the skills required to succeed in AI-powered jobs are changing 66% faster than in other jobs. If women can navigate the AI-linked skills earthquake, they could benefit from the AI revolution. However, PwC’s 2024 Workforce Radar study shows women’s AI adoption levels in the US significantly lag men’s, suggesting women may need to accelerate AI skills growth to prosper in the AI era.  

AI usage is accelerating in every industry   

Jobs that require advanced AI skills continue to grow faster than all jobs, rising 7.5% last year even as total job postings fell 11.3%. This finding indicates that business leaders see the value of AI and are prioritising AI investment. In fact, PwC Ireland’s 2025 CEO Survey finds that most Irish CEOs will prioritise integrating AI into technology platforms (94%, 93% globally) and business processes and workflows (94%, 93% globally) over the next three years.    

The share of jobs requiring advanced AI skills is growing in every industry, suggesting AI usage is accelerating – even in industries less obviously exposed to AI such as agriculture and construction.  

In Ireland, the impact of AI is evident across various sectors, though to differing degrees. While the information and communication sector continues to dominate in AI job postings, other sectors in Ireland show less exposure to AI, with none exceeding 4% of AI-related job postings historically. However, the share of jobs requiring advanced AI skills is growing across all industries, suggesting that AI usage is accelerating even in sectors less obviously exposed to AI. 

Globally, the share of jobs requiring AI skills is growing particularly rapidly in industries that were early leaders in hiring people with AI skills (information and communication, professional services and financial services), suggesting these industries are seeing the benefits and are doubling down on investing in AI.  

The fearless future   

It is early days in the AI revolution, and no one can predict the future with certainty. However, our data suggests that AI can make workers more valuable, not less.  

Revenue per employee – perhaps the most direct measure of the value workers create – has skyrocketed since 2022 and is growing three times faster in industries most exposed to AI versus least. 

Jobs that are ‘automatable’ are not being automated away at scale. Rather, the growing wages and robust job growth for automatable jobs suggest these roles are being reshaped to make people more valuable. Augmentable jobs too are experiencing rising job numbers and wages. 

CEOs agree that the AI era is about value creation with and through workers. In our 2025 CEO Survey, half of Irish CEOs (50%) expect AI to boost profitability in the next 12 months, 26% higher than what they reported achieving in the last year (Global: 49%, and 15% higher than last year’s achievements). While adoption at scale remains modest, our data indicates that AI is not being used to replace the workforce: only 10% of Irish CEOs and 13% globally have reduced headcount due to AI investments, while 87% in Ireland and 82% globally have increased or maintained it. 

Looking to the future, the real challenge is not prediction but design. The choices we make will determine AI’s impact. AI could help to expand middle income jobs if it is used to augment workers, for example by enabling those without advanced degrees to perform high-value decision-making tasks. This could vastly expand access to affordable healthcare, education and more. 

Actions such as the following can support the continued use of AI to augment people: investment in human capital and upskilling, equitable access to AI tools, and policies that help to ensure the creation of new jobs outpaces the displacement of the old (for example, structuring taxes to avoid incentivising investment in technology over people). 

In addition, it is critical to avoid the trap of low ambition. Instead of limiting our focus to automating yesterday’s jobs, let’s create the new jobs and industries of the future.  

Perhaps most importantly, AI must be deployed in a way that earns public and organisational trust. If users do not trust that AI delivers high quality and ethically sound results, if workers do not trust that AI enhances their value to employers, and if society as a whole does not trust that AI is a net positive, then AI will not be adopted at scale and it will have less power to create the jobs and industries of the future. This is supported by our macro-economic research which finds that the impact of AI on global growth could increase global GDP by 15% if AI earns trust and widespread adoption. The modelling suggests much lower benefits in scenarios with lower trust – around 1% GDP growth. 

Our view is neither that of a tech utopian nor a doomsayer. Rather, our view is that with intentional design – of both the technology and the institutions, policies and decisions around it – AI can empower workers, raise productivity and increase shared prosperity. This is the key to a ‘Fearless Future’.

The AI business imperative  

If businesses are to turbocharge their growth and leverage the opportunity afforded by AI, they must put AI front-and-centre, now. Key strategies businesses can employ, include:

1. See AI as a tool for enterprise-wide transformation and not just personal productivity.
2. Treat AI as a growth strategy, not just an efficiency strategy. 
3. Ensure your workforce has the skills to make the most of AI’s power. 
4. Not losing sight of the importance of overall governance to build and retain the trust needed to maximise the opportunity presented.