The consultancy PwC has reported that artificial intelligence is splitting the global labour market into two distinct paths and increasing the value of human skills, in its 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer published on 15 June.
The report, which PwC said is based on an analysis of more than one billion job advertisements across 27 countries and territories, found that AI is dividing work into what it called "professionalised" and "democratised" roles. The firm said human capabilities such as judgement, creativity and leadership are becoming more valuable as AI takes on routine tasks.
The two paths
In "professionalised" roles, PwC said, AI handles routine work while the job continues to rely on human expertise, citing radiologists and recruiters as examples. These roles grew twice as fast as other categories, the firm said, with salaries rising 42% more quickly.
In "democratised" roles, such as IT service managers and medical secretaries, AI allows less experienced workers to carry out tasks that previously required specialists. PwC said these jobs grew more slowly.
Pay, productivity and AI skills
The report found that jobs requiring AI skills have grown 69% since 2019, compared with 9% growth in the wider job market. Workers with AI skills commanded an average wage premium of 62%, up from 57% the previous year, PwC said, ranging from 16% in government and the public sector to 118% in consumer markets.
PwC also linked AI adoption to company performance. The most AI-exposed companies recorded headcount growth of 52%, against 36% for the least exposed, while the top fifth of AI-exposed firms saw labour productivity grow 163% since 2018, compared with 34% across all AI-exposed firms.
Entry-level roles
The barometer reported a shift in junior work. Entry-level roles exposed to AI were seven times more likely to require senior-level skills such as leadership and creativity, PwC said. Entry-level roles demanding those skills grew 35% since 2019, while other entry-level roles fell 10%.
Joe Atkinson, PwC's Global Chief AI Officer, said: "Across the global economy, we're beginning to see a new divide emerge between different models for talent and value creation. The companies seeing the greatest returns on AI are using it to amplify human expertise, accelerate innovation and create entirely new sources of value. As a result, they are pulling further ahead on productivity and growth than companies that focus primarily on automation."
Pete Brown, PwC's Global Workforce Leader, said the findings pointed to a change in how careers develop. "The traditional relationship between experience and expertise is changing. AI is removing some of the routine work that once acted as an apprenticeship, while increasing demand for judgement, leadership and adaptability much earlier in careers. Organisations need to rethink how they develop talent if they want people to thrive in this new environment."
PwC has published the Global AI Jobs Barometer annually. The firm said the 2026 edition drew on labour market, company financial and occupational task data, including 2.4 million entry-level jobs in the United States.
Sources
- 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer, PwC. The report referenced throughout.
- AI reshapes global labour market into two distinct paths, rewarding human skills: PwC 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer, PwC press release via PR Newswire, 15 June 2026. Source of the figures and quotations.
- Human skills are increasingly in demand in the age of AI, Yahoo Finance, June 2026. Corroborating coverage.