Demand For AI Skills Strong Despite Challenging Jobs Market

While the UK jobs market remains on a downward trajectory, demand for AI skills is bucking the trend and has stayed strong, prompting fears that employers may struggle to source new AI hires in an already talent scarce environment. That’s according to new data from leading talent solutions provider, WilsonHCG.

The data – from WilsonHCG’s talent intelligence and labour market analytics platform – revealed that the UK jobs market, although struggling less than in recent months, is still sluggish, with overall job postings dropping by 1.2% between June and July 2024, marking the tenth consecutive decrease.

Despite this challenging market, demand for AI skills remains high, underscoring the importance of AI expertise in driving innovation and business growth. This is in keeping with findings from PwC’s Global AI Jobs Barometer which found growth in AI-related job posts has been 3.5 times faster than for all vacancies since 2016. WilsonHCG’s data reveals that a requirement for Senior Data Scientists and Machine Learning Engineers is leading the demand, highlighting the need for professionals with knowledge of algorithms, modelling and programming languages to support the growth in AI.

However, the global talent solutions provider warns that many organisations will struggle to fill AI roles as a result of ongoing shortages in the technology sector and that adopting a skills-first approach must form part of workforce planning strategies.

Craig Sweeney, EVP of global strategic talent solutions at WilsonHCG, commented,

“Despite challenging economic conditions, and an overall fall in job postings, AI is the outlier, and demand for expertise has remained particularly strong."

"It’s no secret that these areas of technology will be pivotal in the future of almost every industry. However, many employers will struggle to fill roles as a result of the major ongoing skills shortages in the technology and other STEM remits.”

“With a talent deficit impacting many businesses, adopting a skills-first approach to recruitment is vital. If employers are seeking professionals with a clear track record of working in AI, they will really struggle, as talent pools of any real scale simply don’t exist yet."

"Instead, companies need to look to source those with the skills and understanding of emerging technologies and at how those people can be integrated, regardless of their backgrounds, qualifications or employment histories. This essentially means looking past the surface-level indications of talent and looking deeper into their abilities, softer skills, and growth potential."

“Given the competitive business advantage that AI can offer, ensuring that recruitment strategies are correctly aligned, and that there is a continued investment in upskilling existing employees, will be key.”