As artificial intelligence takes over more routine tasks, companies are placing greater value on judgment, creativity, and leadership, according to a new PwC report. The report also highlights the important role that private employment agencies can play in enhancing employability across the region.

Fundamentally human capabilities—such as judgment, creativity, and leadership—are becoming increasingly valuable as artificial intelligence profoundly reshapes the labor market, according to a report released by PwC this Monday.

This summary is based on a broader study that analyzed more than one billion job postings across six continents and suggests that AI is giving rise to a two-speed labor market.

On one side are jobs in which AI handles routine tasks but still relies heavily on human expertise and judgment. These roles, referred to as “professionalized” jobs, include occupations such as radiologists and recruiters.

On the other side are positions that PwC describes as “democratized” jobs, where AI enables less experienced individuals to perform work that previously required higher levels of expertise. IT service managers and medical secretaries are examples of this category.

According to PwC, employment in professionalized occupations has grown at twice the rate of democratized roles. Salaries in these occupations have also increased 42% faster.

The report further argues that companies using AI most effectively are outperforming others in both productivity and hiring, suggesting that this technology can create value well beyond simple automation.

Joe Atkinson, PwC’s Global Chief AI Officer, stated: “The organizations generating the greatest returns from AI are using it to amplify human expertise, accelerate innovation, and create entirely new sources of value.” He added that these companies are experiencing significant productivity gains and business growth.

According to PwC’s analysis, the top 20% of companies with the highest AI exposure achieved average labor productivity growth of 163% compared with 2018 levels—nearly five times the average growth recorded across all AI-exposed firms.

The findings also challenge concerns that AI will slow hiring or directly trigger large-scale job losses.

Companies with higher AI exposure recorded workforce growth of 52%, compared with 36% among less-exposed organizations, relative to 2018 levels. Wage growth was also stronger, reaching 24% versus 17%.

These conclusions provide valuable insights at a time when major employers are restructuring their workforces around AI. This year alone, companies such as Meta, Cisco, Oracle, and Citigroup have announced thousands of layoffs while simultaneously increasing investments in artificial intelligence and pursuing higher productivity.

Demand for workers with AI-related skills continues to rise sharply. Positions requiring specific AI expertise have increased by 69% since 2019—nearly eight times faster than the overall labor market, which expanded by 9% during the same period. The wage premium associated with AI skills has also risen to 62%, according to the report.

This wage premium varies significantly across industries, reaching as high as 118% in consumer markets while falling to 16% in government and public administration roles.

Jobs requiring AI-related capabilities—such as prompt engineering and machine learning—have nearly doubled since 2024, and growth in AI-related roles has outpaced overall employment growth since 2015.

The technology, media, and telecommunications sector accounted for the largest share of AI employment growth, at 11%, followed by professional services at 6%. Healthcare recorded the lowest share, at less than 1%.

The report also highlights implications for youth employment. An analysis of 2.4 million entry-level jobs in the United States found that positions most exposed to AI are now seven times more likely to require skills traditionally associated with more senior professionals, including leadership, creativity, and interpersonal communication.

Demand for these entry-level positions has increased by 35% since 2019, while vacancies for other entry-level roles have declined by 10%, according to the report.

These findings raise important questions about how younger workers gain experience in the workplace. Some experts have warned that if AI takes over routine entry-level tasks, employers may increasingly expect junior talent to demonstrate higher-level competencies earlier in their careers. This represents a major challenge in terms of developing demand-driven skills and capabilities.

On this final point, the report provides relevant data that invites reflection on the role of private employment agencies as providers of demand-based skills training and facilitators of rapid access to formal employment opportunities across Latin America.

Photo of Adriano in Unsplash