Artificial intelligence (AI) could be contributing to an increase in labour market productivity and might pave the way for new industries in the future, according to a report from PwC. To realise the potential of new technologies, policymakers, businesses, and workers need to embrace the way the labour market is changing to find their place.
The report, PwC’s 2024 AI Jobs Barometer, found that data-driven sectors, particularly financial services, IT, and professional services, are observing productivity growth nearly five times faster than sectors that report lower AI exposure in their jobs, such as transport, manufacturing, and construction.
“While it is not possible to prove causation, this is an intriguing pattern,” the report said. “AI may be compressing the ‘productivity J-curve’ in which new technologies can take significant time to cause a sharp uptick in productivity.”
This AI revolution, according to the report, could open doors to new business models and ways of creating value. “Global CEOs anticipate that one form of AI — generative AI — will deliver significant top- and bottom-line benefits,” the report said, “with 46% saying it will increase profitability and 41% saying it will increase revenue.”
PwC analysed more than half a billion job adverts from 15 countries to establish AI’s impact on a worldwide scale through jobs and productivity data.
Business leaders and workers need to work together to reap the productivity rewards of AI. Companies can support employees to make the most of AI by offering training and helping them see how AI empowers them and helps them to work more autonomously, the report said.
For workers, embracing AI means experimenting with those tools to understand how they can “complement and enable” them in their work.
As AI takes a foothold in knowledge work sectors, specialist skillsets in this area are in high demand, the report said. Information and communication have a five times higher share of jobs requiring AI skills compared with other sectors, followed by professional services with a share that is three times higher and financial services at 2.8 times higher.
This era of emerging technologies means upskilling and retraining the labour market. Old skills are disappearing from job adverts, with new skills appearing 25% faster than in roles less exposed to AI, the report said.
If Al is used to create new industries and new roles for people, then it could revolutionise productivity and value creation, the report said. Policymakers can support workers by re-shaping the education system to help prepare workers for an AI age in which critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability are likely to be key skills.
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