Newly listed U.S. jobs, change from a year earlier
New listings of AI-related jobs are
rising, year-over-year, while tech
job listings are falling
25
%
AI jobs
0
−25
IT jobs
−50
−75
2023
’24
U.S. companies are ramping up recruitment of artificial-intelligence professionals and paying a premium for talent.
Firms in the tech sector and beyond went on a hiring spree after the onset of the pandemic before pivoting to a focus on efficiency through layoffs and other cost-cutting measures. The market for AI-related roles has proved resilient, job-listings data show.
AI-related jobs including machine-learning engineers and data scientists existed before the debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, said Anil K. Gupta, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and co-lead of its artificial-intelligence-job tracker. The chatbot put a user interface on the technology, he said, opening eyes about ways to embed AI into products and workflows even as the tech talent market was still pulling back after a period of overhiring.
The Maryland tracker, published in partnership with job-data firm LinkUp and consulting firm Outrigger Group, classifies AI jobs as those requiring a technical understanding of AI algorithms or models. Its measure of IT jobs comprises a broad group of computer- and math-related occupations.
Other measures of the AI and tech job markets show similar patterns. On the job-search platform Indeed, AI-related postings and overall data-science and software-engineering postings are moving in opposite directions.
Change in job postings on Indeed
AI-related jobs
15.7%
Past six months
2.3
Past year
Data analysts and scientists
–1.1
Past six months
–30.5
Past year
Software engineers and developers
–2.9
Past six months
–33.5
Past year
These diverging trends are playing out at some of the country’s largest companies in a shift of resources toward artificial intelligence.
has cut jobs across several areas in recent months, citing changing priorities across its businesses that include AI. Google parent has been working to marshal resources toward developments in AI while also cutting back on spending. UPS, which plans to cut about 12,000 jobs this year, has been increasing its use of AI and machine-learning tools. And last week, abandoned a decadelong electric-car project and will be redeploying some employees to work on AI efforts.Indeed measures an AI role as any listing that includes an artificial-intelligence-related keyword, including in the job title, description and company name. Job categories on the platform with the largest share of AI-related postings are largely data or engineering focused.
Share of job postings in each category that mention artificial intelligence-related terms
18.3%
Mathematics (includes data science)
7.9
Software development
4.6
Science
3.9
Information design and documentation
3.4
Industrial engineering
2.9
Mechanical engineering
1.6
Electrical engineering
1.3
IT operations and help desk
1.3
Marketing
1.1
Banking and finance
1.0
Project management
0.9
Education
0.6
Sales
Accounting
0.5
0.5
Management
0.3
Administative assistance
0.2
Customer service
0.2
Medical technician
0.1
Installation
0.1
Nursing
Postings for roles related specifically to generative AI, the technology behind ChatGPT that can produce text and visual content, were basically nonexistent on Indeed before the chatbot’s launch. The listings still make up a fraction of jobs on the platform but have since boomed.
Companies on the hunt for AI talent appear willing to pay up.
“It’s the tech area du jour,” said Andrea De Ville, a partner in consulting firm
’s human capital practice. “Everybody wants to know about premium pay for AI-related roles.”In a recent survey Aon conducted among some of its tech clients, about three-quarters of companies said AI skills justify a pay premium, meaning higher compensation for the median new hire relative to that of existing employees.
On online hiring platform
, listed pay for jobs related to AI can top that for their non-AI counterparts by tens of thousands of dollars.
Average listed annual pay for roles with and without
AI-related terms in the title
Reflects the bottom ends of pay ranges
$40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
Database engineer
Non–AI
AI role
Engineer
Software engineer
Data architect and
warehouse developer
Data scientist
Gap of more than $23K
Data manager
Product manager
Software developer
Statistician
Research scientist
Computer scientist
Data analyst
$40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
Write to Nate Rattner at nate.rattner@wsj.com
The Global AI Race
Coverage of ChatGPT and other advancements in artificial intelligence, selected by the editors
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Appeared in the March 6, 2024, print edition as 'AI Talent in Demand Despite Cost Cutting'.