Employer appetites for generative AI skills are skyrocketing

After tripling over the June quarter, the share of job postings on Indeed that specifically mention generative AI (GenAI) has doubled again in the September quarter 2023.

While the share of job postings on Indeed that specifically mention GenAI is still very low (at 0.06 per cent or one in every 1,800 postings), the figure is skyrocketing. This and other trends were unearthed in recent research from Indeed.

Let’s consider what the trend might mean and who can expect to be most affected by the growing appetite for GenAI skills.

Employer appetites

“While the ultimate, long-term impact of these [GenAI] tools remains to be seen, employers are already hiring for AI-specific roles – either developing generative AI tools, or explicitly using them. These jobs aren’t yet common, having only emerged this year, but they are increasing rapidly,” explained Indeed economist Callam Pickering.

These jobs are disproportionately concentrated in NSW and Victoria, which, combined, account for 86 per cent of GenAI job postings. This is hardly surprising considering the tech sector’s concentration in the nation’s two largest cities: Sydney and Melbourne.

Though GenAI continues to be of greater interest to tech recruiters, the September quarter recorded over 100 different occupations, with at least one job post referencing GenAI, compared with below 60 in the June quarter of this year.

“Around 9.1 per cent of data scientist roles refer to generative AI in their job descriptions, compared to 6.2 per cent of machine learning engineers. Both of these occupations, along with others such as full stack developer and platform engineer, are in the business of developing generative AI tools,” explained Mr Pickering.

“By comparison, generative AI is also relatively common in roles where these tools are used to enhance or augment a worker’s existing workflow. That’s certainly true of communication specialists, sales specialists and even content writers.”

The research accords with earlier Indeed research that outlined which industries and occupations can expect to be most affected by the growing advent and adoption of GenAI technologies.

The firing line

While all jobs will potentially be shaken up by GenAI, said Indeed, it’s unlikely to fully replace many jobs. Instead, the research focused on the degree of augmentation likely to be experienced across occupations and industries.

Though the research covered a lot of ground, three interesting trends stood out from the rest.

1. Knowledge workers more exposed

“Unlike prior advances in robotics and computing that largely impacted manual labour, roles filled by knowledge workers are potentially the most exposed to change from generative AI,” said Indeed.

Accordingly, job skills associated with driving came in as least vulnerable to GenAI replacement, while software development faced the highest exposure. Communication, language, maths, and finance skills were also particularly vulnerable to GenAI.

2. The vulnerabilities of remote work

The report also found that jobs that are better suited to remote work tend to be more vulnerable to GenAI.

“We found that jobs with the least potential exposure to GenAI (including driving, cleaning and sanitation, and beauty and wellness) are also those with the lowest ability to be done remotely,” reported Indeed.

The easier it is to carry out a job remotely, the greater the exposure to GenAI adoption.

“Historically, these are not the kinds of jobs that have been subject to disruption through automation, more evidence that this round of technological evolution will affect different workers in different ways than in the past,” explained Indeed.

3. In-demand roles to stay

Finally, the research found that jobs currently in highest demand among employers are least vulnerable to GenAI-related change. Of the 25 most common jobs posted on Indeed, 20 face a lower potential exposure to GenAI than the average job posting. Of these 20 roles, GenAI rated itself as poor or fair at more than 41 per cent of the skills associated with those jobs.

It’s for this reason, said Indeed, that it is unlikely that current skills shortages and tight labour market conditions will be alleviated by the growing uptake and development of GenAI technologies.

To conclude, Indeed said: “As we’ve seen, at its best, GenAI is generally good but not great at certain tasks, and at its worst is simply bad.”

“As such, it’s likely that deep, diverse, expert, and uniquely human knowledge will stay in high demand. A person’s capacity for on-the-job adaptation and lifelong learning, already critical today, will only become more important tomorrow.”