No AI skills on your resume? Expect lower salaries and fewer roles in the future

Leading big tech companies, like Microsoft, Google and Amazon, have all posted stock results that beat estimates, citing AI as the key factor in their success.

While Nvidia, the American chip provider, has surpassed Apple to become the second most valuable company in the world with a market valuation of almost $3.01 trillion. Much of this is due to a surge in demand for its AI chipsets.

As corporates from all sectors play catch up and focus on AI, jobseekers without AI knowledge are set to be at a distinct disadvantage, with fewer roles on offer and lower salaries available.

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• Government Relations Coordinator, Topsoe, Washington D.C
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Senior AI hires

Two senior AI-specific titles were added to Janco Associates mid-year salary survey this year, a long-running report that has been published for over 40 years.

These are the vice president artificial intelligence (aka chief AI officer CAIO) and project manager artificial intelligence.

Also demonstrating the AI effect, is the fact that supervisor word processing/data entry and the data entry operator positions were dropped, as many of these positions have been eliminated with automation.

Overall, there is less of a requirement for “entry-level” and “low-skill” level positions.

Compensation changes

According to the Janco analysis, demand has remained highest for professionals who can support functions in artificial intelligence, security, blockchain, and ecommerce, and this is reflected in salaries on offer.

Last year, as companies advertised widely to increase their technically-skilled workforce, salaries increased. Plus, due to a huge skills gap in AI, cybersecurity and cloud, many of these positions remain unfilled, further driving salaries higher.

In an April tweet, Elon Musk said, “The talent war for AI is the craziest talent war I’ve ever seen!”, and this reflects the skills gap that means AI-upskilled workers can cherry pick their roles based on compensation, flexibility, meaningful work – all important engagement factors according to a recent McKinsey report.

But aside from inflated salaries for in-demand functions, overall IT salary bumps were just 3.28 percent, less than the annualized inflation rate of 4.1 percent.

Salary increases did vary with organization sizes, and while you might think bigger companies would offer higher base salaries, that was not the case. The mean midsize enterprise increase came in at 3.82 percent, versus 3.63 percent in larger enterprises.

And of course, base salary isn’t everything. Benefits like flexible hours and scheduling, insurance, 401Ks, bonuses and stock options are all part of the total compensation package, and alongside the shortage of IT professionals, contributions to 401Ks have at least increased 1 percent from last year’s figures.

Overall, Janco’s report says 2023 was not a good year for the size of the IT job market, as the market shrank by 48,600 jobs. In fact, the information technology sector only added 700 positions in 2023 — a massive decrease from the 267,000 jobs added in 2022.

However, the consulting firm is optimistic about 2024, saying the market is expected to grow slightly.

AI everywhere

AI features in three of the top six job titles that are in high-demand in large enterprises, and these positions include: CAIO, AI project managers, and AI system support specialists. While mid-size enterprises are seeking managers in AI application development, and AI project managers.

Positions with low demand include VPs of consulting services and administration, directors of production and data centers, directors of systems and programming, managers of data communications/voice and wireless, librarians, and analysts in network control and IT planning.

For short and long-term career development, professionals across all industries must recognize the importance of AI and related skills, or risk being left behind.

Jobs site Indeed revealed on Wednesday that the number of job posts related to generative AI has increased tenfold in the last year. While the number of job ads related to generative AI increased 75 times between April 2022 and April 2024.

You don’t have to retrain as an AI architect, but by investing in some strategic upskilling, you can gain a competitive edge, ensuring better job prospects and a higher salary potential in our increasingly AI-driven world.

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