The emerging blueprint for the future workforce

We’re not waiting for the future of work—we’re building it. Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant disruptor; it’s a present force reshaping how we live and work. The 2025 PwC AI Jobs Barometer, based on nearly a billion job ads across 15 EMEA countries, offers a powerful lens into this transformation. But this isn’t just about technology, it’s about people, purpose, and progress.

AI job growth is accelerating, but the pace and pattern vary. While the current share of AI-exposed roles remains modest in many markets, the doubling or tripling of these roles in just a few years signals the early stages of exponential growth, particularly as most organisations are still in the early phases of AI adoption.

Denmark leads the region, with AI-related roles comprising 2.9% of all job postings in 2024. Poland has seen a 235% increase in AI-exposed occupations since 2019, while Ireland’s AI job share has nearly doubled to 2.2%, with the Information & Communication sector alone accounting for 13.9% of AI-related postings in 2024 versus around 6.3% in 2018.

In the UAE, the number of job postings demanding AI skills has increased from 5,000 in 2021 to 10,000 in 2024, with AI skill demand growing rapidly in technology and professional sectors, while traditional industries show slower adoption. The overall trend suggests a growing emphasis on AI-related skills in the job market, highlighting the increasing integration of AI in various industries.

Switzerland’s AI job share rebounded to 1.4% in 2024 after a dip the previous year, with South Africa reaching the same mark with education and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) driving demand. Although South Africa’s overall job market has slowed, AI-related roles have remained relatively stable, experiencing only a slight decline. This resilience, despite fewer job postings overall, signals sustained and growing demand for AI skills.

Meanwhile, the UK and Germany are navigating AI transformation with caution. The UK’s AI job share held steady at 1.4% despite a weaker labour market, while Germany’s showed slight fluctuations but no dramatic changes at 1.2%. Italy and France show more modest penetration. With a strengthening job market, France saw a growing number of roles being advertised, with AI-related job postings surging from 21,000 in 2018 to 166,000 in 2024. This sharp rise in both volume and share of AI jobs highlights a sustained and growing demand for AI skills. Italy showed a strengthening of their labour market in 2024, with more job postings overall and increased demand for roles requiring AI skills (rising from 0.4% in 2018 to 0.9% in 2024). This was also the case for the total number of AI jobs, which peaked at 30,000 in 2024.

Even in markets like Norway and Sweden, where overall job postings declined, AI roles remained resilient, suggesting that AI is becoming a core pillar of workforce strategy, not a peripheral trend.

ICT remains the dominant sector for AI roles across EMEA. In Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands, nearly 1 in 10 ICT job postings now require AI skills. Given the nature of ICT roles, nearly all are inherently AI-exposed, which could explain their consistently higher share of AI-related postings. But the story doesn’t end there.

In Ireland and Spain, professional services and manufacturing are increasingly integrating AI. France is seeing notable growth in health and social care, while South Africa’s education sector saw AI skill demand jump from 4.9% to 8.5% between 2021 and 2024. In the UAE, professional services and education are being reshaped by national skills-first initiatives.

Switzerland’s AI market has stabilised, with manufacturing now leading in AI job postings. Norway’s AI job share remains low but steady, while Belgium and Italy are seeing gradual expansion in professional and technical sectors, indicating growing integration of AI in these fields.

This diversification signals a shift: AI is no longer confined to technology; it’s becoming embedded in the fabric of every industry.

The relationship between AI exposure and job growth is complex and country specific.

In the UK, Norway, and Denmark, higher AI exposure correlates with slower job growth, suggesting some displacement in automatable roles. In Denmark, for example, highly AI-exposed roles (e.g. legislators, call centre workers, programmers) grew 621% since 2019, compared to 824% for less exposed ones (e.g. cleaners, builders).

But in Poland, France, and the Netherlands, the opposite is true. Poland’s AI-exposed roles grew 235%, compared to 76% growth in less exposed roles. France saw a 273% increase in AI-exposed job postings, versus 251% for less exposed roles. The Netherlands reported 307% growth in AI-exposed roles, slightly below the 330% growth seen in less exposed roles. Sweden, Germany, and Italy sit somewhere in the middle, showing that where AI empowers rather than replaces, job growth tends to follow.

This divergence in growth rates also reflects the structural divide between white- and blue-collar roles: AI-exposed jobs tend to be more specialised, degree-based, and slower-growing, while less-exposed roles, often in manual or service sectors, are growing faster in many markets.

Across EMEA, a powerful shift toward skills-based hiring is underway.

In Germany, degree requirements for AI-exposed roles dropped from 47% to 41%. The Netherlands saw a similar decline, from 67% to 62%. The UK’s top quartile of AI-exposed jobs saw a 59% higher rate of skill change, while Switzerland reported a 138% higher net skill change in AI-exposed roles.

Ireland’s AI-exposed roles evolved nearly three times faster than others, and in South Africa, the top quartile of AI-exposed jobs experienced a 1.32x greater change in demanded skills.

Even in the UAE, where 84% of AI-exposed roles still require degrees, national initiatives like Coders HQ and AI Talent Bridge are pushing for change.

This isn’t just a technological shift; it’s a cultural one. It’s about building a workforce that’s not just AI-aware, but AI-fluent.

As organisations shift from degree-based hiring to skills-based models, and as AI-exposed roles evolve at unprecedented speed, a new question emerges: how do we not only keep up with change, but lead it?

The answer lies in how we design the systems that support people at work. It’s no longer just about upskilling individuals; it’s about reimagining the very architecture of work. And at the heart of this transformation is agentic AI.

To lead the change a forward-looking approach is required that goes beyond benchmarking one’s organisation to peers to see where improvements could be made. Next frontier firms are rethinking their processes as if they were AI natives and automate and augment things where possible with people in the loop where required.

Agentic AI refers to autonomous systems that can learn, reason, and act independently. Unlike traditional automation, which replaces discrete tasks, agentic AI collaborates with humans—enhancing decision-making, accelerating problem-solving, and freeing up time for strategic, creative, and human-centred work.

Across EMEA, leading organisations are already seeing the benefits. Teams that embed agentic AI into their workflows report measurable gains in efficiency, revenue, and productivity. These systems are no longer just tools, they are becoming trusted teammates.

But the real power of agentic AI lies in orchestration. When deployed thoughtfully, these systems don’t just optimise processes, they help elevate the role of people. They enable a shift from reactive to proactive work, from routine to value-creating tasks, and from static roles to dynamic capabilities.

To unlock this potential, organisations must invest in more than just technology. They need the cultural, ethical, and operational foundations that allow agentic AI to thrive. That includes:

• Designing workflows that integrate AI into human decision-making and human decision-making into agentic workforce
• Establishing governance frameworks for transparency, fairness, and accountability
• Equipping teams with the skills and confidence to collaborate with AI

Adopting AI agents at scale, however, hinges on trust. While early use cases are promising, broader impact depends on continued experimentation and demonstrable improvements in quality and applicability. Building trust requires transparency and responsible deployment from employers, technology providers, and governments.

As we look across the EMEA landscape, the signals are clear, but the story is still being written. Leaders should ask themselves:

• Are we building AI strategies that empower people or displace them?
• How are we measuring the impact of AI on productivity, inclusion, and trust?
• Are our hiring and reward models keeping pace with the skills revolution?
• What role should agentic AI play in our operating model and are we ready for it?

The frontier of work isn’t ahead of us, it’s already here. The question is: will we shape it, or be shaped by it?