Samil PwC: "AI Accelerates Labor Market Polarization...Widening Wage Gaps and More"

Release of the "2026 AI Jobs Barometer" Report

There are growing opinions that the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating polarization in the labor market.

On June 22, Samil PwC released the "2026 AI Jobs Barometer" report, which contains this analysis. The report is based on PwC's analysis of over 1 billion job postings across 27 countries worldwide.

According to the report, AI not only replaces jobs but also widens the gap between different types of jobs. As AI automates repetitive work, jobs are becoming divided into specialized positions—where human expertise and judgment are increasingly important—and generalized positions, where tasks become relatively easier to perform with AI, thus lowering entry barriers. Currently, 22% of jobs are being reorganized into specialized roles, while 52% are shifting into generalized roles.

This structural shift is directly reflected in job growth and compensation levels. For example, specialized roles such as radiologists and recruiters are growing at twice the rate of generalized roles such as IT system administrators and medical administrative staff. Since 2021, the wage increase rate for specialized jobs has also been 42% higher than that for generalized jobs.

The impact of AI is also evident in entry-level positions. An analysis of approximately 2.4 million entry-level job postings in the United States found that entry-level roles with high AI exposure are seven times more likely to require senior-level competencies compared to those with the lowest AI exposure. Since 2019, postings for entry-level positions that demand senior-level skills have increased by 35%, while other entry-level postings have decreased by 10%. Samil PwC explained that as AI rapidly automates simple work, the labor market is being restructured to require complex problem-solving and decision-making abilities even at the early stages of a career.

The gap between companies is also widening. Companies with higher levels of AI adoption are experiencing faster growth in both productivity and employment. Companies with the highest AI exposure saw a 33.5% increase in productivity last year compared to 2018, while those with the lowest exposure saw only a 24% increase. The workforce growth rate for companies with high AI exposure was 52%, outpacing the 36% rate seen in companies with low exposure. Wage growth was also higher among the top companies at 24%, compared to 17% for the lowest tier.

Choi Changbeom, Leader of People Strategy Consulting (Partner) at PwC Consulting, commented, "Korean companies are proactive in adopting AI, but they still tend to focus on workforce optimization for cost reduction. In a situation where skilled talent is scarce, simply reducing headcount could actually create talent gaps." He added, "It is time to shift to a strategy that leverages AI as a tool to enhance human capabilities, thereby boosting both productivity and employment, just like leading global companies. To achieve this, companies need to reform entry-level training programs to focus on judgment and problem-solving skills and invest in long-term expertise development by establishing systems for reskilling and redeployment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.