AI skills acting as catalyst for higher salaries

AI skills acting as catalyst for higher salaries

Tech Journalist
     

    A survey has found employees are willing to pay 44% more for workers skilled in artificial intelligence (AI) for the IT sector and 41% more for staff working in research and development.

    The study was conducted by Access Partnership on behalf of Amazon Web Services, with the key outcome being a scarcity of AI-skilled staff across various industry areas. In response, employers are willing to increase remuneration to future-proof their workforce.

    4,664 employers and 14,896 workers across several Asia-Pacific markets, including Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, and Indonesia, were polled.

    The findings detailed India as willing to provide the greatest increase across the region, offering a 54% salary spike, compared to an average of 33%, for workers who attain the relevant AI knowledge.

    In sales and marketing, employers are prepared to splash out a further 39% increase, the same in business operations, whilst in finance, the figure stands at 37%.

    What would employers get in return for higher salaries?

    The AWS survey outlined there would be no ‘giveaway’ in salary gains for Asia-Pacific workers, which is expected to be proportional to increases in productivity as part of AI implementation.

    Employers believe AI can boost productivity by more than half (51%) if fully leveraged across all functions, with staff on board with this aim. Those questioned said AI can increase productivity up by 50%.

    On improvements to daily activity, 64% of employers stated task automation with 60% citing improved workflow and outcomes. A further 59% believe communication would be enhanced and 49% said innovation and creativity would be harnessed.

    IT, business operations, and finance were identified as key departments to gain from the rollout of AI with scores of 91%, 89%, and 88%, respectively.

    In terms of the departments that would benefit most from AI, 91% pointed to IT, while 89% and 88% highlighted business operations and finance, respectively.

    The vast majority, 93%, believe AI skills will have a positive impact on their careers, acting as a catalyst for improvements such as better job satisfaction and faster career progression. 83% want to develop the requisite AI skills, including 87% of Gen Z workers and 79% of Gen X.

    In a further breakdown, 68% of the workforce aged 55 or above, baby boomers, are ready to take on AI upskilling if presented with the opportunity.

    Image credit: John Guccione/Pexels

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    Graeme Hanna

    Tech Journalist

    Graeme Hanna is a full-time, freelance writer with significant experience in online news as well as content writing. Since January 2021, he has contributed as a football and news writer for several mainstream UK titles including The Glasgow Times, Rangers Review, Manchester Evening News, MyLondon, Give Me Sport, and the Belfast News Letter. Graeme has worked across several briefs including news and feature writing in addition to other significant work experience in professional services. Now a contributing news writer at ReadWrite.com, he is involved with pitching relevant content for publication as well as writing engaging tech news stories.

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