AI Changes the Hiring Formula: "2 Seniors Over 10 Juniors"

STEPI’s Digital Healthcare Analysis

Rising Demand for Small, Elite Teams and Convergent Talent as AI Adoption Spreads

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to proliferate across industries, there is an emerging analysis that companies’ demand for technical talent is shifting from junior-centric hiring to a “small elite” structure focused on skilled senior employees. As AI takes over basic work tasks, the importance of talent capable of both understanding technology and business, as well as verifying and judging AI-generated results, is increasing—rather than narrowly specialized experts in a single field.

According to the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI)’s recently published report, “Characteristics and Response Strategies for Changes in Technical Talent Demand in the Age of AI: Focus on Digital Healthcare,” released on August 11, the introduction of AI is simultaneously transforming workforce structures, required competencies, and recruitment methods at digital healthcare companies.

Eunhye Hwang, Senior Researcher at the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) (right), and Seongmin Hong, Senior Research Fellow. The two researchers analyzed changes in the demand for technical personnel in the digital healthcare industry due to the spread of AI. Provided by STEPI

A deep-dive interview with four digital healthcare companies revealed that all had changed their workforce management strategies. For example, one company reduced its organizational size from 400 to 100 employees, while another scaled back its health coaching staff from 40 to just around 2. Cases were also found where a company that previously hired 10 junior employees for the same salary now builds its team around just two seniors.

However, the report cautioned against interpreting this as an overall decline in employment across the digital healthcare industry. Rather, it attributes these changes to broader labor market shifts and work automation enabled by AI, which in some companies is resulting in a move from traditional pyramid-shaped organizations toward models centered on senior and core talent.

Digital healthcare is an industry with high reliance on research and development personnel. As of 2024, there are 44,730 total employees in the sector, including 15,635 technical staff (35.0%), of which 6,879 (44.0%) work in R&D. This ratio of R&D professionals is higher than in the bioindustry (20.6%) or the medical devices sector (11.8%).

In the Age of AI, “80+80=160” Convergence Talent

The qualities sought by companies are also changing. One firm stated that its hiring standard was “80 points in the medical domain plus 80 points in digital technology equals 160-point talent.” In other words, employees with an integrated understanding of both medical practice and digital technologies are seen as more valuable in product development than those who excel in only one area.

As AI comes to handle even some of the basic work of R&D professionals, a human’s role is expected to shift to verifying AI-generated results and making judgments in medical and ethical contexts. New positions are also gaining attention, such as data curators and AI governance officers. Analysis of 211 job postings also revealed that software skills, as well as capabilities in quality management, certification, and regulatory compliance, are now major requirements.

The problem is that fostering such integrated talent remains difficult. Laws governing personal information protection and medical data restrict practical, hands-on education using real healthcare data, while rising market value for AI specialists is making it even harder for small and medium-sized businesses to secure talent.

As strategies for addressing these challenges, the report proposes four major initiatives: building a career development system for convergence talent linking universities and businesses, expanding medical data-based hands-on and project-focused education, training experts in AI verification, judgment and governance, and further advancing systems for monitoring workforce demand in digital healthcare.

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