CNBC.COM
Hiring for AI skills is skyrocketing, but it's not displacing the need for other skills, according to a new report.
The demand for AI-related skills, like using AI in creative or analytics work, more than doubled in the last year, compared to 23% growth for other high-demand skills, according to the latest report from Upwork, the freelancer and contract-worker marketplace.
The fastest-growing skills on the platform over the last year include:
- AI video generation and editing (for design and creative work): +329%
- AI integration (for coding and web development work): +178%
- AI data annotation and labeling (for data science and analytics work): +154%
- E-commerce management (for customer service and admin support work): +130%
- AI image generation and editing (for design and creative work): +95%
"AI is infused everywhere," including in technical, creative, operational and other skills, says Gabby Burlacu, lead researcher of the Upwork report.
But AI isn't getting rid of the demand for other skills that has remained strong for years.
The skills companies are investing in the most vary across six broad categories of work, defined by Upwork, and include:
- Accounting, for accounting and consulting jobs
- Full stack development, for coding and web development jobs
- Virtual assistance, for customer service and admin support jobs
- Data analytics, for data science and analytics jobs
- Graphic design, for design and creative jobs
- Social media marketing, for sales and marketing jobs
"We're seeing that skill sets around applying AI to these existing domains is really what's growing in demand," Burlacu says.
Hiring for skills that "AI can supposedly do," like video editing, image editing or illustration, hasn't dipped, even as businesses today are more frequently searching for people who know how to perform those functions using AI tools.
"I think the conventional thinking is, 'Oh, you can whip up a logo in ChatGPT immediately,'" Burlacu says. However, logo design and illustration remained a top in-demand skill businesses hired for via Upwork over the last year.
Beyond AI, businesses are hiring for creativity and talent
Other data shows businesses are focused on hiring beyond AI knowledge and value "human skills and getting skilled talent in the door," Burlacu says.
Roughly half of business leaders say they'd pay a premium for candidates who demonstrate creativity and innovation, per an October Upwork survey of 349 bosses.
The "continual demand for human talent is the recognition that AI can't do [what it does] without that human expertise and judgment and creativity," Burlacu says. "The output of AI really doesn't get you very far."
She urges workers struggling to understand the impact AI is having on their work "not to abandon the expertise that you have or the domain you work in, but rather to really upskill in the ways that AI can help you deliver that work differently and better," she says. "That's really what business leaders are seeking."
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