AI skills demand surges, but still remains a small portion of job market, Seek report finds

Demand for workers with AI-related skills has quadrupled and is moving from a niche specialisation to mainstream, even as job ads explicitly mentioning AI (artificial intelligence) still remain a small slice of the market, according to a new report from Seek.

The findings, written up by Seek's senior economist Blair Chapman, show a shift from technical hiring, to a more broader desire for workers across different industries that can use generative AI tools and AI for productivity gains.

The report, named Seek AI Gauge, looked at job ads on the site since 2016. There was a sharp increase in AI-related job ads in late 2020 and early 2021, which then cooled post-Covid, before increasing again in 2024, with another sharp increase over the last year.

Part of that has seen ads with generative AI terms rise quickly since early 2023.

“Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) have received the most attention in recent years, with the emergence of ChatGPT and similar chatbots, but demand for knowledge of the underlying technology and statistical techniques has been around for some time,” the report says.

Similar rises are seen in job ads mentioning terms related to Agentic AI - which “promises large gains in productivity, allowing whole tasks to be completed by AI agents rather than humans”.

“It is understandable that business is looking for people with the skills to help harness it.”

Chapman said while the share of job ads with AI terms has increased in almost all of Seek’s classifications, not all industries were likely to benefit to the same extent from AI.

“Some industries have adopted the technology much faster than others, and some industries have been using the techniques underpinning AI for many years."

When it comes to marketing and communications, the number of roles mentioning AI has increased to about 1 in 16 - “Job ads for copywriters, marketing managers, and content creators now emphasise using generative AI tools," it says. 

Specific AI roles have also started to emerge - including AI analysts, which either sits under an evolved Data Scientist/Data Analyst role or under delivering AI strategy.

“These AI analysts tend to work with AI Governance Leads (another new AI role) to determine how AI fits into an organisation’s goals, while also ensuring compliance with ethics and legislation.”