Demand for AI skills in the UK surge while overall vacancies fall, research shows

The UK job market is entering a “two-track” era as businesses shift from AI experimentation to full-scale adoption.

According to PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer, specialist AI job postings in the UK have surged by 61% over the past year – adding 68,000 roles and scaling hiring volumes back to 2022 peaks.

This boom stands in stark contrast to the wider economy, where overall vacancies fell by 6.6%. The spike in demand has triggered an extraordinary wage premium for AI-literate professionals, with average salary bumps tripling in a single year to 34.2%, peaking at a massive 64% within consumer markets.

The data reveals that the current hiring wave is not being driven by the tech engineers building the systems, but by specialists who know how to apply them.

Demand for “AI user” roles – professionals who can embed AI effectively within a specific field of expertise – skyrocketed by nearly 66% in 2025. Meanwhile, technical “developer” roles grew by a more modest 21.6%.

“The experimentation phase is over and businesses want to scale and embed the technology properly,” said Claire Reid, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at PwC. “This requires specialists who understand the art of the possible.”

“Human-Intensive” premium

As routine, administrative tasks are increasingly automated, the premium on uniquely human capabilities is soaring. The report highlights a growing demand for advanced skills that machines cannot replicate:

• Strategic Judgement: Evaluating AI outputs and making complex, high-stakes decisions.

• Creativity and Leadership: Driving innovation and managing cross-functional teams.

• Adaptability: Navigating rapid workflow transformations.

This shift is fundamentally altering early careers. An analysis of entry-level vacancies shows that roles heavily exposed to AI are now seven times more likely to require traditionally senior-level attributes such as team building and leadership.

Conversely, the market is seeing massive resilience in occupations with the lowest exposure to automation. By 2025, postings for these hands-on, human-centric roles more than doubled compared to 2012 levels.

“The balance of skills is shifting towards qualities that are harder to automate, such as judgement, creativity, and adaptability,” Reid noted, emphasising that for young professionals entering the workforce, expectations are rising faster than ever.