AI-exposed roles posting job growth despite previous warnings
Australia is seeing job growth and higher wages because of artificial intelligence adoption, according to a new report, which challenges preconceptions that the technology will negatively impact the country's labour market.
The Australian Institute of Business (AIB) carried out a five-year labour market analysis to find that AI is a major catalyst to the employment market's expansion to a record-high 14.7 million workers.
According to the analysis, overall net job availability for roles that are exposed to AI grew by 10% between 2019 and 2024.
Augmentable roles, where humans work alongside AI to enhance output, expanded by 47% during the period. Automatable roles, where AI can independently perform tasks, expanded by 45%.
The findings come in the wake of previous warnings that AI will cause mass displacement in employment, with the Productivity Commission even noting that AI adoption will mean a "painful" transition for workers.
But the AIB's report noted that AI-exposed jobs are expanding because of structural labour scarcity.
"Employers are increasingly deploying AI to offset critical labour gaps and boost output instead of cutting headcount," it said in the report.
Wage premium for AI skills
Meanwhile, the report also found that AI adoption has doubled the premium for employees with AI skills from 25% in 2023 to 56% in 2024.
This means Australians with AI skills may be looking at an estimated median salary of $143,000, significantly higher than the $104,000 median salary received by the broader workforce.
The report says the findings highlight the financial incentive to upskill in AI, which has been in demand as of late.
According to the analysis, the number of job postings seeking AI skills surged by over 1,000% to 23,000 postings in 2024. It follows widespread adoption of AI in workplaces, with 1,532 organisations now actively hiring for AI skills.
Sajjad Shokouhyar, Senior Lecturer and Discipline Leader in Operations and Supply Chain Management at AIB, stressed that AI skills are not enough to navigate the AI landscape today.
"AI's real value is not limited to automation. Its greatest organisational impact comes from helping managers convert large, complex and fast-moving data into timely and actionable decisions," Shokouhyar said.
"This is why the future workforce will need more than technical AI skills; professionals will also need analytical judgement, business understanding and the ability to apply AI responsibly to real organisational problems."
