AI-skilled workers will see 54% salary hike; finance, IT sectors to benefit most: Amazon study

NEW DELHI: AI-skilled workers in India can expect a 54 percent salary hike with IT being the highest paid sector followed by research and development, as per a study by Amazon Web Services (AWB). In collaboration with Access Partnership, AWS conducted a regional study, titled “Accelerating AI Skills: Preparing the Asia-Pacific Workforce for Jobs of the Future”.

The survey conducted on 1,600 workers and 500 employers in India showed that 97% of workers in India expect their Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills to have a positive impact on their careers, including increased job efficiency and career advancement. 95% of employees showed a keen interest in developing AI-skills to accelerate their careers.

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Among these, 95% of Gen Z (late-1990s to early-2010s), 96% of Millennials (early-1980s to late-1990s), and 93% of Gen X (mid-1960s to early-1980s) workers want to acquire AI skills. While 90% of baby boomers (mid-1940s to early-1960s) said that they would enrol in an AI upskilling course if it was offered, as per the study.

Almost all employers (99%) in India expect that their companies would become AI-driven by 2028, the Amazon study found. 97% of employers believe that the finance department will get the biggest benefit from AI, while 96% believe in IT, research and development, and sales and marketing, 95% for business operations, 94% for human resources, and 92% legal departments.

Generative AI, hiring

When it comes to generative AI, the study revealed that 98% of employers and workers expect to use generative AI tools within the next five years. 73% of employers found ‘increasing innovation and creativity’ as the top benefit, 69% voted for improving outcomes, and 68% for automating repetitive tasks.

Further, the surveyed employers in India believe that AI can boost productivity by 68%, while workers find it making tasks 66% more efficient. Hiring AI talent is a priority for over nine in 10 employers in India, of which 79% can't find the AI talent they need, the report stated.

The AWS research also found a training awareness gap whereby 91% of employers don't know how to implement an AI workforce training programme while 86% of workers are not sure about the relevant career paths where AI skills would come to use.