The uptake of artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to create 133 million new jobs globally and “drastically change” the UK job market in the coming years, according to a new report.
The findings come from the Harnessing the Power of AI: The Demand for Future Skills report, produced by global recruitment agency Robert Walters and market analysis company Vacancy Soft.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The report states that around 10.5 million workers will be impacted by the emergence of AI as around 10-30% of jobs in the UK become automated or otherwise change.
However, it also finds that artificial intelligence will create a host of new jobs.
The jobs being created by the rise in artificial intelligence
According to the report, this uptake of AI has increased the demand for data professionals. Within large or global entities, IT professionals dedicated to data management are the fastest-growing area, with a 160% increase in vacancies since 2015.
Data roles across the board have also increased by 80% since 2015, with engineers and data scientists being key areas of growth within the sector. Job vacancies for data scientists have increased by 110% year-on-year, while data engineers have averaged 86% job growth year-on-year.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalData“As businesses become ever more reliant on AI, there is an increasing amount of pressure on the processes of data capture and integration. As a result, we have seen an unprecedented number of roles being created with data skill-set at their core,” said Ollie Sexton, principal at Robert Walters.
“Our job force cannot afford to not get to grips with data and digitalisation. Since 2015 the volume of data created worldwide has more than doubled – increasing (on average) by 28% year-on-year.
“Now is the perfect time to start honing UK talent for the next generation of AI-influenced jobs. If you look at the statistics in this report we can see that demand is already rife, what we are at risk of is a shortage of talent and skills.”
Professional services hire for AI
The report notes that professional services – financial and banking services in particular – have started hiring “aggressively” for information security professionals since 2016 due to the rise of cybercrime.
Vacancies for data analysts, managers, scientists and engineers within these professional services have increased by 19.5%, 64.2%, 28.8% and 62% respectively, year-on-year.
According to the report, the uptake of AI is expected to create more “next generation” jobs, with data skill sets at their core, across a number of industries. Agriculture is the top industry investing in AI, followed by business support and customer experience.
“The uptake of AI across multiple industries is bringing about rapid change, but with that opportunity,” said Tom Chambers, advanced analytics and engineering manager at Robert Walter.
“Particularly, we are seeing retail, professional services and technology industries’ strive to develop digital products and services that are digitally engaging, secure and instantaneous for the customer – leading to huge waves of recruitment of professionals who are skilled in implementing, monitoring and gaining the desired output from facial recognition, check-out free retail and computer vision, among other automation technologies.
“Similarly, experimental AI is making huge breakthroughs in the healthcare industry, with the power to replace the need for human, expert diagnoses.
“What we are seeing is from those businesses that are prepared to invest heavily in AI and data analytics, is they are already outperforming their competitors – and so demand for talent in this area shows no signs of wavering.”
Read more: Britons least concerned about losing jobs to AI
