Artificial intelligence is creating two distinct labor markets, and companies that use AI to strengthen expertise rather than simply automate routine work are pulling ahead in productivity, hiring, and wages, according to PwC Finland.
"The companies seeing the greatest benefits from AI use it to strengthen human expertise, accelerate innovation, and create entirely new sources of value," Juuso Laatikainen, partner, markets leader, and strategy consulting at PwC Finland, said in the Finnish release today on the 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer. "As a result, they are increasing productivity and growing their business faster than companies focused primarily on automation."
PwC argues that AI is reshaping jobs in two ways. For some occupations, the technology removes repetitive work and raises the value of judgment, creativity, and specialist knowledge. For others, it lowers the skill threshold, allowing less experienced employees to perform tasks that previously required deeper expertise.
The conclusions are based on PwC's global report, released on June 15, which analyzed more than one billion job advertisements across 27 countries alongside company and productivity data. The study finds that occupations where AI increases the need for human expertise are growing twice as fast as jobs where the technology reduces the expertise required. Workers with AI skills now command a 62 percent wage premium, while demand for AI specialists grew 69 percent in 2025, nearly eight times faster than the overall labor market.
The report also challenges one of the most common assumptions about AI adoption. Companies operating in the sectors most exposed to AI recorded productivity growth of 34 percent between 2018 and 2025, compared with 24 percent for sectors with the lowest exposure. Headcount grew faster as well, rising 52 percent versus 36 percent. The top fifth of AI-exposed companies increased productivity by 163 percent over the period, suggesting the biggest gains come from redesigning work rather than simply replacing people with software.
The shift is reshaping hiring as much as technology. According to the global report, entry-level jobs in AI-exposed occupations are now seven times more likely to require leadership, creativity, judgment, and face-to-face communication skills than comparable roles with limited AI exposure.
In the Finnish release, PwC Finland's HR and Workforce Services Leader Leenamaija Heinonen said organizations should rethink how they develop talent as employees are expected to demonstrate these capabilities much earlier in their careers. As routine work disappears, companies will need to give younger employees opportunities to build judgment, leadership, and decision-making skills sooner than in traditional career paths.
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