Job numbers in occupations exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) in Ireland have grown 94 per cent since 2019, and the technology is making workers better able to command higher wage premiums, according to a new report from PwC.
The group’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer, which is based on analysis of close to a billion job ads globally, has found that productivity growth has nearly quadrupled in industries most exposed to AI since its proliferation in 2022.
Growth has risen from 7 per cent from 2018-2022 to 27 per cent from 2018-2024 in industries including financial services and software publishing. By contrast, the rate of productivity growth in industries least exposed to AI declined from 10 per cent to 9 per cent.
Data from 2024 shows that the most AI-exposed industries are now seeing three times higher growth in revenue per employee than the least exposed.
PwC Ireland chief technology officer David Lee said the research shows that the power of AI to deliver for businesses is “only at the start of the transition”.
“As we roll out agentic AI [making decisions without human intervention] at enterprise scale, we will see how the right combination of technology and culture can create dramatic new opportunities to reimage how organisations work and create value,” he said.
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The report found job numbers in AI-exposed occupations in Ireland have grown 94 per cent since 2019, with positive growth in every type of occupation.
Augmentation-exposed jobs have seen much higher job growth across almost all sectors than automation-exposed jobs, reflecting demand for workers who are “enhanced by AI”, the report said.
In Ireland, the results suggest that AI-exposed occupations are also undergoing transformation, requiring workers to reskill and upskill more frequently.
For example, the top quartile of occupations exposed to AI in Ireland have seen a 2.78 times greater change in demanded skills compared with the bottom quartile.
The report also found wages are growing twice as fast in industries more exposed to AI versus less exposed, with wages rising in both automatable and augmentable jobs.
Jobs that require AI skills also offer a wage premium in every industry analysed, with the average premium hitting 56 per cent, up from 25 per cent last year.
Although the picture on productivity, wages and jobs is broadly positive, the research highlighted the need for workers and businesses to adapt to a much faster pace of change.
The skills sought by employers are changing 66 per cent faster in occupations most exposed to AI, up from 25 per cent last year.
PwC Ireland partner Gerard McDonough said 44 per cent of Irish CEOs reported AI had increased efficiencies in their employees’ time at work in the past 12 months.
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“However, to reach full potential, close attention needs to be given to skills enhancement,” he said. “The survey revealed that 73 per cent of Irish business leaders are of the view that AI will require most of their workforce to develop new skills.”
He added that AI’s rapid advance is not just reshaping industries, but “fundamentally altering the workforce and the skills required”.
“This is not a situation that employers can easily buy their way out of,” he said. “Even if they can pay the premium required to attract talent with AI skills, those skills can quickly become out of date without investment in the systems to help the workforce learn.”
