Demand for AI skills is on the rise but lags other industries
 

Our research shows AI adoption is starting to speed up in the industry—the proportion of postings requiring AI skills reached 1.5% in 2024, marking a small but steady increase over 2023 (Figure 2). Compared to other industries, however, the demand for AI skills remains modest in this industry.

Some organisations in Wholesale and Retail Trade are using AI applications for inventory management, customer analytics and dynamic pricing, for instance. They are experimenting with chatbots, augmented reality tools and predictive forecasting systems. 

AI in retail is making shopping more guided, while supply chains are becoming more automated^{3. Some fashion retailers, for example, are using AI for supply chain optimisation and consumer behaviour analysis but retaining human involvement in creative design and customer engagement4.}

Figure 2: The share of jobs requiring AI skills is slowly rising in the Wholesale and Retail Trade industry

Share of job vacancies that require AI skills in the Wholesale and Retail Trade sector over time, 2012 to 2024, selected countries*

 

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

*Note that some countries only have data from 2018 or 2021 onwards. For consistency purposes, in this metric we only include the six countries that have full postings data from 2012 onwards: US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

^{[3] Platform Revolution, ‘Assistance, augmentation, and automation,’ 2025
[4] Numalis, ‘How AI is transforming the wholesale and retail trade landscape,’ 13 February 2024
","title":"Page","id":"701a7b37-1b00-471a-bc1b-dc2c3523665c","created":"2025-05-19T17:36:43.337Z","columns":48,"style":"option-immerse-page-white","isFreeformMode":true,"actAsPageIfOnePage":true},{"id":"0f8fee92-59f7-4e69-929d-e7f162c9e8fd","title":"Page","html":"}

AI Jobs Barometer | Wholesale and Retail Trade

Both AI-augmentable and AI-automatable jobs are seeing growth
 

Between 2019 and 2014, the industry saw robust demand for both augmentable roles and automatable roles, which grew at a similar rate: 70% versus 61%, respectively (Figure 3). 

Figure 3: Job numbers are growing at a similar rate for both automatable and augmentable jobs in Wholesale and Retail Trade

Average job growth for augmentation and automation, 2019 to 2024, by industry

 

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

 ","style":"option-immerse-page-white","columns":48,"isFreeformMode":true,"actAsPageIfOnePage":true,"created":"2025-05-19T17:01:43.756Z"},{"id":"722f5c61-28b7-4538-a206-8493fdc60a98","title":"Page","html":"

AI Jobs Barometer | Wholesale and Retail Trade

AI adoption is picking up and transforming work—but AI talent is scarce and expensive
 

As organisations increasingly adopt AI, our research shows that workers with the relevant AI skills in Wholesale and Retail Trade command the highest wage premium across all industries of 122%. This is significantly higher than the 56% premium average across industries (Figure 4).

The particularly high premium in Wholesale and Retail Trade may indicate the value of AI skills when layered onto core retail and logistics roles, and signals both the strategic value and scarcity of such capabilities in the market. 

Figure 4: AI skills in Wholesale and Retail Trade attract the highest wage premium of any industry 

Average wage premium for jobs if they are listed with ‘AI skills’, 2024, by sector

 

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

The average wage premium is calculated by averaging findings per industry. We do not weight by sample size. Our analysis includes occupations more exposed to AI (not those less exposed to AI).","style":"option-immerse-page-white","columns":48,"isFreeformMode":true,"actAsPageIfOnePage":true,"created":"2025-05-19T17:14:53.014Z"},{"id":"5b6ed8bd-89d4-405e-88fb-b01eaaf5a28e","title":"Page","html":"

AI Jobs Barometer | Wholesale and Retail Trade

AI is changing the skills workers need to succeed

As AI adoption grows, the skills required to perform some jobs is changing too. Skills sought by employers in Wholesale & Retail Trade for AI-exposed jobs are changing particularly quickly in Singapore, the US, and Germany. 

Between 2019 and 2024, the net skill change in the industry was similar for augmentable and automatable jobs. However, it differed across regions. Net skill change was higher for augmentable jobs in Singapore, indicating transformation in service and retail roles. In Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland, on the other hand, automatable jobs experienced higher net skill change, likely linked to changes in logistics or warehousing. 

 

As AI adoption grows, the skills required to perform some jobs is changing too.

Figure 5: In most countries, augmentable jobs have experienced similar net skill change to automatable jobs

Net skill change for jobs more exposed to augmentation and automation in the Wholesale and Retail Trade sector between 2019 and 2024, by territory

 

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

For this analysis we use a subset of developed countries that have good data availability.","style":"option-immerse-page-white","columns":48,"isFreeformMode":true,"actAsPageIfOnePage":true,"created":"2025-05-19T17:11:59.614Z"},{"html":"

AI Jobs Barometer | Wholesale and Retail Trade

Next steps for business leaders

1. Use AI for enterprise-wide transformation. Many organisations are starting to use AI for isolated use cases. But the real benefit comes when AI is used to transform value creation at an enterprise-wide level, generating new revenue streams and gaining competitive advantage.

2. Treat AI as a growth strategy, not just an efficiency strategy. Companies are using AI not just to control headcount but rather to help workers create more value. Companies who use AI only to reduce staff numbers may miss out on the much bigger opportunities to use AI to claim new markets or generate new revenue streams.

3. Prioritise agentic AI which is an exponential workforce multiplier. With AI agents at their command, workers can achieve much more. Business leaders who adopt agents early won’t just cut costs – they can create organisations that think, adapt, and execute faster than competitors. PwC’s agent OS helps businesses get the greatest value from their agents by enabling them to work as a team – sharing context, operating across platforms, and learning from one another.

4. Enable your workforce to have the skills to make the most of AI’s power. As AI creates huge churn in the skills workers need, build a clear, data-based picture of skills gaps and create a plan for closing them.

4. Enable your workforce to have the skills to make the most of AI’s power. As AI creates huge churn in the skills workers need, build a clear, data-based picture of skills gaps and create a plan for closing them.

5. Unlock AI’s transformative potential by building trust. Our research suggests the growth dividend from AI is not guaranteed and depends on more than just technical success – it also hinges on responsible deployment, clear governance and public and organisational trust.

Learn more

© 2025 PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.","title":"Page","id":"8cbbdddb-9436-4e3c-918f-d65e62a5e08a","created":"2025-05-30T08:19:48.467Z","columns":48,"style":"option-immerse-page-white","isFreeformMode":true,"actAsPageIfOnePage":true}],"columns":3,"requiresLead":false,"signupOptional":false,"style":"","sections":[],"inlineParent":false},"mobileSurf":null,"locked":false,"hierarchy":1,"lineage":["682b14f1091bcc22e9c7d83a"],"topics":[],"_id":"682f304a6882c86b2b4f1660"}],"hash":"356edd08b7756fe0a938005d3a5f78fc","author":{"id":"652676c975d527fc821f9e73","_id":"652676c975d527fc821f9e73","name":"Turtl 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Financial 
Services

AI Jobs Barometer | Financial Services

Financial Services

Accelerated adoption of AI sees new jobs emerge and others evolve 

The Financial Services industry continues to be a cornerstone of the global economy. It’s also a space where both traditional players and disruptive new entrants are innovating with AI to transform how services are delivered. 

The Financial Services market is estimated to have reached $33.5 trillion in 2024, representing a 7.7% year-on-year increase¹. This strong growth is projected to continue, with predictions that it could reach around $50 trillion in 2028².

AI is set to play a significant role in this continued growth. It is already boosting productivity and changing the nature of work in this industry more rapidly than in almost any other. 

In this industry report, we examine how the Financial Services industry is adopting AI and how this is affecting jobs and talent. 

AI-exposed jobs are jobs that contain many tasks in which AI can be used. Example jobs: financial analysts, data entry workers.¹ We use ‘AI-powered’ as an equivalent term to AI-exposed.

Augmentable jobs are AI-exposed jobs in which AI enhances or supports human judgment and expertise on many tasks. Example jobs: surgeons, judges.² 

Automatable jobs are AI-exposed jobs in which AI can carry out many tasks. Example jobs: software coders, customer service workers.

^{[1] Research and Markets, Financial Services Market Report 2025, March 2025
[2] Benchmark International, Global Financial Industry Report, 17 December 2024}

AI Jobs Barometer | Financial Services

Financial Services’ share of all job vacancies declines despite industry growth
 

Financial Services accounted for 8.9% of all job vacancies in 2018, up slightly from 8.2% in 2012, but dropped sharply to 5.7% in 2024 (Figure 1).

 

Figure 1: The Financial Services industry’s share of job postings fell significantly between 2012 and 2024

Share of job vacancies in the Financial Services sector over time, 2012 to 2024, selected countries*

 

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

*Note that some countries only have data from 2018 or 2021 onwards. For consistency purposes, in this metric we only include the six countries that have full postings data from 2012 onwards: US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

AI Jobs Barometer | Financial Services

Both banking and insurance are seeing a decline in vacancies
 

Banking vacancies globally declined by 11% in 2024 due to restructuring efforts and regulatory pressures³. In the United Kingdom, workforce impacts have been even more extreme, with London’s financial services hub seeing a 28% year-on-year decrease in job vacancies in 2024, driven by a combination of factors that included economic volatility, geopolitical uncertainty and technological disruption⁴.

In insurance, the number of active job openings also came down between 2023 and 2024, with global vacancies decreasing by 14% from October 2023 to January 2024⁵. Despite this reduction, many firms are reportedly finding it difficult to find talent in highly skilled areas such as actuarial, analytics and executive positions⁶.

 

^{[3] Morgan McKinley, ‘AI and investment trends reshape the financial market,’ 30 January 2025
[4] Jonathan Eason, ‘London financial sector jobs slump continues as 2024 ends with a sharp decline,’ FSTech, 13 January 2025
[5] Global Data, ‘Global Job Trends in the Insurance Sector (October 2023–January 2025),’ January 2024
[6] Risk & Insurance, ‘Insurance Industry Forecasts Strong Growth and Hiring in the Next 12 Months,’ 19 November 2024}

AI Jobs Barometer | Financial Services

Technological advancements are disrupting 
skills requirements 
 

The Financial Services industry has seen significant adoption of AI and automation, particularly for repetitive tasks such as transaction processing and compliance reporting. 

As well as boosting productivity, our research found that AI is reshaping certain mid-level roles rather than outright replacing them—and that it is leading to the creation of new roles, too. This aligns with findings from the European Banking Federation, which reports that AI adoption is expected to both eliminate certain roles and create new ones globally, particularly in IT-related areas such as data science and AI model engineering⁷.

The share of jobs requiring AI skills in the Financial Services industry is growing rapidly. Among all industries, Financial Services (alongside Professional Services) is second only to the Information, Communication and Technology industry in terms of AI skills requirements. In 2024, AI skills were required for 5.1% of all Financial Services jobs, significantly higher than the average across industries (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The Financial Services industry continues to be one of the largest employers of AI-skilled workers

Share of job vacancies that require AI skills in the Financial Services sector over time, 2012 to 2024, selected countries*

 

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

*Note that some countries only have data from 2018 or 2021 onwards. For consistency purposes, in this metric we only include the six countries that have full postings data from 2012 onwards: US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

^{[7] Arix Research, ‘Banking in 2030: How will the current global trends, especially AI, shape the post-Covid-19 pandemic future of the European banking industry and its employees,’ May 2024}

AI Jobs Barometer | Financial Services

Overall job demand growth is lowest in Financial Services
 

Between 2019 and 2024, the demand growth for both AI-augmentable and AI-automatable jobs in Financial Services was the lowest across all industries. 

Bucking the trend seen in most other industries, demand for automatable jobs was slightly higher than the demand for augmentable roles—18% versus 13%. By contrast, the comparable Professional Services industry saw 55% growth in demand for augmentable jobs and 27% growth for automatable ones over the same period (Figure 3). 

Figure 3: Financial Services job demand growth is the lowest of any industry between 2019 and 2024

Average job growth for augmentation and automation, 2019 to 2024, by industry

 

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

 

AI Jobs Barometer | Financial Services

AI-skilled workers are paid more
 

While job demand growth is lowest in the Financial Services industry, workers with AI skills are paid well: In 2024, workers with AI skills enjoyed a 60% wage premium over workers without these skills (Figure 4).

 

Figure 4: Financial Services workers who have AI skills command a significant wage premium

Average wage premium for jobs if they are listed with ‘AI skills’, 2024, by sector

 

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

The average wage premium is calculated by averaging findings per industry. We do not weight by sample size. Our analysis includes occupations more exposed to AI (not those less exposed to AI).

AI Jobs Barometer | Financial Services

AI is augmenting jobs in the industry, leading to rapid net skill change

AI's primary impact in the industry may be augmenting jobs rather than automating them. Across most geographies for which data are available, augmentable jobs have generally seen higher net skill change than automatable jobs (Figure 5). 

This suggests that jobs in the industry have rapidly changing requirements, and AI may play a greater role in complementing roles in the industry—creating and adding value in the process. 

This contrasts with global findings, where automatable jobs tend to see the most significant skills disruption across industries. It remains unclear how this trend will develop and whether more advanced applications of AI in Financial Services may involve complete end-to-end automation without human intervention in the future⁸.

Figure 5: The net skill change for augmentable jobs in the industry is generally higher than for automatable jobs 

Net skill change for jobs more exposed to augmentation and automation in the Financial Services sector between 2019 to 2024, by territory

 

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

The average wage premium is calculated by averaging findings per industry. We do not weight by sample size. Our analysis includes occupations more exposed to AI (not those less exposed to AI).

^{[8] OECD, Generative artificial intelligence in finance, December 2023}

AI Jobs Barometer | Financial Services

Next steps for business leaders

1. Use AI for enterprise-wide transformation. Many organisations are starting to use AI for isolated use cases. But the real benefit comes when AI is used to transform value creation at an enterprise-wide level, generating new revenue streams and gaining competitive advantage.

2. Treat AI as a growth strategy, not just an efficiency strategy. Companies are using AI not just to control headcount but rather to help workers create more value. Companies who use AI only to reduce staff numbers may miss out on the much bigger opportunities to use AI to claim new markets or generate new revenue streams.

3. Prioritise agentic AI which is an exponential workforce multiplier. With AI agents at their command, workers can achieve much more. Business leaders who adopt agents early won’t just cut costs – they can create organisations that think, adapt, and execute faster than competitors. PwC’s agent OS helps businesses get the greatest value from their agents by enabling them to work as a team – sharing context, operating across platforms, and learning from one another.

4. Enable your workforce to have the skills to make the most of AI’s power. As AI creates huge churn in the skills workers need, build a clear, data-based picture of skills gaps and create a plan for closing them.

4. Enable your workforce to have the skills to make the most of AI’s power. As AI creates huge churn in the skills workers need, build a clear, data-based picture of skills gaps and create a plan for closing them.

5. Unlock AI’s transformative potential by building trust. Our research suggests the growth dividend from AI is not guaranteed and depends on more than just technical success – it also hinges on responsible deployment, clear governance and public and organisational trust.

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