A study of about 22,000 US companies found that firms spending heavily on generative AI are adding staff faster than their peers, challenging fears that generative AI will trigger broad job losses.
June 15 · 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer
AI-Heavy Firms Are Hiring Faster — Not Cutting Jobs
An analysis of over a billion job postings across 27 countries finds the most AI-exposed companies grew headcount, wages and productivity faster than rivals — channelling AI gains into expansion rather than layoffs.
Headcount growth since 2018
High AI-exposure firms outgrew low-exposure peers.
+40%
Higher productivity growth at most-exposed firms
163%
Avg. productivity growth of top 20% "super-star" firms
+62%
Average wage premium for AI skills
AI-skill jobs vs. the overall job market
Demand for AI skills grew roughly eight times faster than the market overall.
≈ 8× faster growth
The upside
AI complements rather than replaces people — new AI-driven tasks rely 2.5× more on human skills like empathy, judgement and creativity. Wages rose 24% at most-exposed firms vs 17% at the least.
The concern
Early-career entry is narrowing. AI-exposed junior roles were 7× more likely to demand senior-level skills. Such roles grew 35% since 2019, while other entry-level roles fell 10% .
A labour market splitting into two tracks.
Professionalised roles
AI augments experts — 2× the postings and 42% faster wage growth.
Democratised roles
AI lets non-specialists handle tasks once reserved for trained staff.
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