AI skills are becoming more important than job experience. Here’s how job seekers can adapt

AI aptitude could soon rival experience when choosing between job candidates. This is according to a new international study by Microsoft and LinkedIn on labour and recruitment trends due to the rise of generative AI. The research also predicts the rise of AI super users as the labour market – which has already undergone significant change in recent years – will shift again.

The 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report draws on a survey of 31,000 people across 31 countries, hiring trends from LinkedIn, Microsoft 365 productivity data and research with Fortune 500 companies.

The research reveals that three-quarters of people surveyed use generative AI at work, with the majority (78%) bringing their own AI tools into the workplace, especially in small and medium-sized businesses.

AI emerges as a tool to help people deal with an increased pace and volume of work that more than two-thirds of respondents struggle with (68%), helping them offload menial tasks.

However, many of those drawing on AI at work fear that doing so might make them look replaceable (53%) and worry that AI could replace their jobs (45%).

But it looks like the opposite could be the case.

Over the past eight years, hiring for technical AI roles was up 323%, and businesses are now turning to non-technical talent with the skills to apply generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot.

Two-thirds of business leaders surveyed say they wouldn’t hire a candidate without AI skills. Nearly three-quarters said they would rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them.

This trend is consistent with PwC’s 2024 AI Jobs Barometer, which found that jobs requiring AI specialist skills are growing 3.5 times faster than all jobs combined. The exponential need for AI-qualified staff has been on an upward trajectory since 2016 – well before the advent of ChatGPT and other generative AI models.

Moreover, PwC’s analysis of half a billion job ads from 15 countries shows that, on average, AI specialist jobs command up to a 25% premium in pay. While technologists see some of the highest wage premiums, AI skills also pay dividends for professionals such as lawyers, sales and marketing managers, and accountants.

This further underlines that AI skills are needed across roles and industries. The top three occupations that have added AI to their skills and aptitudes on LinkedIn are creatives: content writers, graphic designers and marketing managers. Following hot on their heels are entrepreneurs and business professionals, along with the web and software developers you might more naturally expect to find on the list.

Workers clearly understand the role of AI for advancing their career prospects.

More than three-quarters of people surveyed for Microsoft and LinkedIn’s 2024 Work Trend Index felt that AI skills will be necessary for staying competitive in the job market. They also view AI knowledge as a way to get promoted faster (69%) and broaden their job opportunities (79%).

And people are acting on it: attendance of LinkedIn Learning courses on AI for non-technical professionals has increased 160% in the past six months.

The research predicts that AI upskilling – whether through formal learning or simply by using AI tools in the workplace – may lead to the rise of ‘AI power users’.

Power users are those who are ahead of the curve in terms of their AI use. They use it several times a week at work, benefitting from making their workload more manageable, boosting their creativity or helping them focus on the most important work. It also makes them feel more motivated and enjoy work more.

If the research findings are anything to go by, then becoming an AI power user is the way to go to further career progression. So, what are the habits that mark out a power user? According to the 2024 Work Trend Index, it’s some of the following:

With PwC finding that skillsets for what it terms ‘AI-exposed occupations’ are changing 25% faster than in roles where AI is less relevant, adopting some, if not all, of these habits could dramatically improve people’s future career development.

However, the findings also mean that organizations and educational systems must do major work to prepare the current workforce and future generations for an AI-driven world of work.

As part of its mission to build more resilient, productive, equitable and human-centric workplaces, the World Economic Forum’s Good Work Alliance focuses on deploying AI effectively and responsibly. The Education 4.0 framework aims to ensure education and training systems teach AI skills and leverage AI for better learning.