Productivity growth ‘supercharged’ by AI job skills: PwC

The amount of growth in revenue per employee has tripled in industries exposed to artificial intelligence in comparison to those less exposed. New research from PwC has revealed that Australian workers with AI skills are among those able to command higher wage premiums, with industries most exposed to AI seeing a three-time higher growth in revenue per employee.

This article first appeared on HR Leaders sister brand Accounting Times.

PwC’s latest Global AI Jobs Barometer analysed almost 1 billion job ads and found that generative AI had “supercharged productivity growth” in AI-exposed industries, including financial services and software, growing from 7 per cent in 2018–22 to 27 per cent in 2018–24. Tom Pagram, PwC Australia’s AI and global AI factory leader, said the barometer found all forms of AI were becoming engrained in roles and daily operations for an increasing number of Australian workers.

“The data shows that those who are mastering, and driving new value from this technology can command higher wage premiums, in some cases, upwards of 56 per cent,” he said.

“Rather than AI resulting in less jobs, we’re observing the contrary – job opportunities in the most AI-exposed industries were up 10 per cent. Demand for workers with AI skills remains high as businesses continue to look for ways to integrate AI-powered solutions to drive revenue growth, differentiate and boost productivity.”

The barometer reflected the AI job growth in Australia to be led by the financial services and insurance sector, as in 2024, it maintained its lead over other industries, with an 11.8 per cent increase in AI skills ahead of information and communications where jobs requiring AI skills increased by 6.9 per cent. Pagram noted that job growth was accelerating across nearly all AI-exposed occupations, including those with high potential for automation, pushing businesses to leverage the technology.

“In the past 12 months, we’ve seen more and more evidence emerge of real productivity outcomes from business adoption of AI. And we’re continuing to see more proof points arise across all industries,” he said.

“Australian businesses must act decisively and deliberately; leaders need to think beyond efficiency and use AI as a growth engine by embedding it into strategy.”

Pagram added that AI-exposed roles and jobs could be divided into two categories: automatable and augmentable, which grew by 45 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively, on average, across all industries.

“This data shows that the Australian market increasingly values AI capabilities that enable both augmentation and automation,” Pagram said.

“While automation might suggest job displacement, what we’re seeing instead is job transformation – roles evolve as AI takes over routine tasks, allowing people to focus on higher-value work. As a result, even automatable roles are still expanding, not shrinking.”

According to the research, jobs exposed to AI augmentation were seeing a drop in degree requirements from 71 per cent of postings in 2019 to 67 per cent in 2024.

Jobs exposed to automation experienced a similar rate of decline from 80 per cent to 74 per cent, yet the fact most augmented and automated jobs still listed degree requirements underscored the continued importance of formal education in the job market, Pagram said.

“Tertiary education institutions face a difficult challenge in keeping up with ever-faster cycles of technological advancement. In a space that’s moving as quickly as AI, anything you learnt even six months ago could become quickly irrelevant,” he said.

“That’s a huge challenge for educational institutions but could also be a great opportunity for them to partner with the technology sector to develop contemporary skills and the ‘lifelong-learning’ philosophy we require in an AI-enabled workforce.”

Pagram added that this growing trend would only continue if workers continued to upskill and reskill to help them shift into higher-value roles.

“Without an active focus on workforce upskilling, we risk a growing divide between those whose skills are enhanced by AI and those whose jobs are hollowed out by it. The gains we’re seeing today – more jobs, rising demand for AI capability – could easily stall or even reverse if we don’t bring people along,” he said.