New report indicates AI upskilling may be the next attractive perk employers can offer
Companies that offer AI training have a competitive edge in attracting talent, and some workers are even willing to take a pay cut for it, according to new research from hiring platform iCIMS.
A survey of 1,000 US job seekers found that 42% would find a company offering AI training more attractive than a similar employer that did not.
More strikingly, 14% said they would accept lower pay in exchange for that training, a sign that AI upskilling is increasingly shaping where people choose to work.
Workers are upskilling on their own
The findings come at a time when workers are increasingly taking AI development into their own hands.
The share of job seekers teaching themselves AI skills rose from 22% to 30% in a single year, while employer-provided training remained roughly flat at about one in six workers.
Nearly half of respondents (47%) said they had actively worked on their AI skills in the past six months.
"I'll admit, I thought skills-based hiring was hype. This data changed my mind," said Trent Cotton, head of talent insights at iCIMS.
"Workers are outpacing employer training. Job postings are outpacing both. That is the market talking, and I trust what the numbers are telling us. The pressure for organisations to win the AI race will only intensify the need for an AI-ready workforce plan."
However, the report noted that the self-directed upskilling trend also reveals a quality gap.
While 60% of job seekers said they feel ready to adapt to AI at work, 61% described their proficiency as limited to general-purpose tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini. Specialised capabilities such as prompt engineering (18%) and machine learning or model development (17%) were far less common.
Growing demand for AI-skilled talent
The report further revealed that while employer-provided AI training is falling behind, more employers are looking for talent with AI skills.
Lightcast job posting data included in the report shows employer demand for AI skills is broadening. Finance leads in AI skill saturation across the US, UK and Middle East, while healthcare is changing fastest, recording the largest share of newly emerging AI-related requirements among the sectors studied.
That widening demand is playing out in a tighter labour market. The iCIMS Insights September 2026 Workforce Report found US job openings outpaced hires for a third straight month in August, with time to fill reaching 40 days and applicants per opening falling to 30.
"This is what a constrained talent market looks like," Cotton said. "Demand is rising, supply is flat and the only lever left is how well you execute inside your own process. With only 30 candidates per role, every breakdown in your process is costing you real hires."
