AI Jobs Barometer 2026: why human skills are becoming more important

It's clear that AI is fundamentally changing the labour market. The nature of work is transforming differently and more quickly than organisations expect. This is creating a divide between two types of roles that are shaping the future of work in different ways. What does this mean for Dutch organisations? 

The Netherlands deviates from global labour market developments

We're seeing a two-track labour market emerge worldwide. On one hand, 'professionalised' roles, where AI takes over routine tasks and employees gain more space for expertise and judgement. For example, AI helps lawyers with simple tasks such as summarising documents. This time saving allows them to focus on more difficult tasks, such as building a case in court. Or take recruiters: AI can now automatically screen CVs, allowing recruiters to focus on more demanding tasks such as negotiating contracts. 

On the other hand, AI can actually remove the more specialist tasks from a role, leaving the less complex tasks with people. Think of inventory managers, for example. AI now performs complex tasks, such as inventory management, whilst people focus on less specialist tasks, such as moving goods in warehouses. We call these roles 'democratised'. 

The Dutch results differ in some respects from global developments. Whilst globally the number of vacancies is growing fastest in organisations most exposed to AI, this is not the case in the Netherlands. Here, the number of jobs is growing fastest in sectors less influenced by AI. And the wage premium for AI skills lags behind compared to other countries.

The share of AI hiring in the Netherlands has seen modest growth despite more stagnant growth in the volume of job posting

Findings

• The number of vacancies in the Netherlands requiring AI knowledge has increased by only five thousand between 2022 and 2025, which is modest compared to what we see globally.
• However, the share of AI job postings has continued rising in recent years, increasing from 1.5 per cent in 2022 to 2.1 per cent in 2025.

Source: PwC-analysis, Lightcast-data 

The Dutch labour market at a glance

The number of vacancies requesting AI-related skills has risen in the Netherlands from 1.5 per cent in 2022 to 2.1 per cent in 2025. In absolute numbers, this represents growth of five thousand vacancies in three years. The key findings for the Netherlands: 

• Demand for AI skills is growing, but remains limited
  The share of vacancies requesting AI-related skills is increasing. However, it remains relatively small at 2.1 per cent of all vacancies. This is striking, as AI is high on the agenda for many organisations. In the job vacancy market, the highest demand for employees with AI skills comes from the technology, media, and telecom (TMT) sector. The figures suggest that many organizations are still mainly experimenting with AI or have not yet explicitly included AI skills in job profiles. At the same time, the relatively limited demand in job vacancies may also indicate that organizations are partly developing AI skills through internal training and upskilling programs.
• Large differences in wage premiums
  The wage premium for AI skills varies greatly by sector. In manufacturing and TMT, the premiums are highest: a sign that there is high demand for AI talent there. It's notable that the financial services has a negative wage premium of eight per cent. This suggests that AI skills are not rewarded additionally there and that there is room to capitalise on this further. 
• AI accelerates the transformation of skills
  There is a positive correlation between AI exposure (the extent to which tasks and roles are potentially highly influenced, supported or automated by AI) and the speed at which skills change. In the most exposed professions, such as application developers, chemists and software developers, skills change twice as fast as in less exposed roles. This means that employees in these roles must continuously keep developing themselves. 

Wage premiums in the Netherlands vary across sectors and remain relatively low

Findings

• AI wage premiums vary significantly across sectors, with no consistent relationship to AI exposure.
• Manufacturing and Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) record the highest premiums, indicating strong demand for AI skills in these sectors. In contrast, Government and Public Sector and Financial Services show negative premiums of around -2 per cent and -8 per cent respectively. Despite relatively higher exposure in Financial Services, this suggests weaker demand for AI skills and scope for further adoption.

Source: PwC-analysis, Lightcast-data 

What does this mean for your organisation?

Our AI Jobs Barometer makes clear that AI is not a distant concern. The impact is visible, measurable and accelerating. 

AI is not a technology question, but a talent question

The technology is important, but ultimately it's about people. The question is not only whether AI works, but whether your employees understand, trust and use it. This requires a different approach to learning and development. 

The divide demands different learning strategies 

The divide into 'professionalised' and 'democratised' roles forces you as an organisation to develop two different career paths and learning strategies for your employees. The degree of exposure to AI determines how you shape those strategies. 

AI is also changing the start of careers 

The AI Jobs Barometer shows that junior roles that are strongly influenced by AI request skills traditionally associated with seniority seven times more often. Think of leadership, strategic thinking and stakeholder management. As a result, organisations will need to invest in the development of these skills earlier. 

Three routes for the future

1. Invest in human skills
   The more tasks AI takes over, the more important skills become that AI cannot replace: judgement, creativity, empathy and collaboration. Make these skills part of your development programmes. In AI-exposed roles, these skills are two and a half times as important as in less exposed roles. 
2. Determine which learning strategies you need
   Do you want your experts to become even better, or do you want to use AI to make knowledge broadly accessible? The answer determines where you invest and how you structure your organisation.
3. Measure where you stand
   We developed a tool called the AI Mind Map: a short survey with which you map out what employees already know about AI, how they view it and where opportunities lie. These insights can form the basis for an approach that fits your organisation. 

Investing in skills and mindset 

The AI Jobs Barometer 2026 is clear: AI is changing the labour market. Organisations that invest today in skills, mindset and strategic workforce planning create the workforce needed for tomorrow.

The question is not whether AI has impact, but how you respond to it.

The AI Jobs Barometer is a global study by PwC, read more about the industry-specific insights at a global level