AI drives productivity and wage growth, PwC global study reveals

Diegem– 5 May 2025 Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the labour market in Belgium and around the world, making workers more productive, valuable and better paid, even in roles traditionally seen as vulnerable to automation. That is the conclusion of PwC’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer, based on an analysis of nearly one billion job ads and thousands of company financial reports across six continents, including Belgium.

The study challenges the widely held fear that AI will replace jobs and suppress wages. In fact, it reveals that industries most exposed to AI, such as technology, finance, healthcare, and manufacturing, are experiencing significantly higher productivity growth. Between 2018 and 2024, these industries achieved growth rates in revenue per employee that were up to three times higher than in less-exposed sectors, increasing from 8.5% to 27%.This indicates that investments in AI are driving stronger productivity gains, benefiting both companies and their workforce.

Workers that use AI are also benefitting. Currently, 40% of white-collar workers in Belgium don’t use AI at work. 34% use it regularly or always, according to the Bridging the AI Gap survey from PwC Belgium (May 2025). Those last workers might benefit extra because globally, wages in AI-exposed jobs are rising twice as fast as in less-exposed ones. Even in highly automatable or support roles, wages are growing steadily, suggesting that AI is augmenting human effort rather than replacing it. Employees with advanced AI capabilities, such as machine learning or prompt engineering, are commanding premium salaries, with the global average wage premium for such skills reaching 56% in 2024, up from 25% the year before.

Job creation remains resilient, even in roles that are typically seen as vulnerable to automation. While overall hiring has cooled in some areas, demand for jobs requiring advanced AI skills continues to rise. This indicates that AI is not replacing workers, but rather enabling organisations to do more with the talent they have. A promising development for countries like Belgium, where the workforce is gradually shrinking.

At the same time, AI is driving rapid shifts in the skills employers seek. Skills requirements are evolving 66% faster in AI-exposed jobs than in other roles, compared to 25% just a few years ago. Employers are placing less emphasis on formal degrees, especially in AI-intensive jobs, and more value on adaptability, technological fluency, critical thinking and problem-solving. Automatable roles are seeing the biggest disruption, pushing workers to continuously upskill.

Importantly, PwC Belgium’s Bridging the AI Gap survey highlights a significant gender dimension in AI adoption: women are underrepresented among regular users of AI tools and overrepresented in AI-exposed roles. The survey shows that men are almost twice as likely to use generative AI tools daily compared to women (19% versus 9%). This gap underscores the urgent need to support women through targeted upskilling and reskilling, ensuring they can fully participate in the AI-driven economy.

AI adoption is accelerating across all industries, from finance and manufacturing to agriculture and construction, with every sector reporting increased use of AI tools. Industries that were early adopters are now doubling down on their investments, driven by the tangible benefits they are seeing in performance and productivity.

Xavier Verhaeghe, Technology and Innovation Leader at PwC Belgium, states: “For Belgian business leaders, the message is clear. AI should not be viewed merely as an efficiency tool to cut costs, but as a catalyst for transformation and sustainable growth. Rather than limiting AI to isolated pilots, companies should embed it enterprise-wide, rethinking how work is done and where new value can be created.”

To succeed, organisations must ensure their people are ready. That means identifying skill gaps and addressing them, whether through hiring, internal mobility, or targeted upskilling initiatives. As AI shifts the nature of work towards more complex, judgment-based and creative tasks, building digital and cognitive capabilities across the workforce becomes essential. But at this point, 26% of Belgians indicate that AI is simply not used at their workplace. Another 35% indicate that AI is mainly used on individual initiative, but without any training or frameworks around its use. For 22%, there is more experimentation with AI at work, but there are no guidelines or rules yet. Only 11% say they have clear rules around AI at work and another 6% can also count on training and sharing examples at work, according to PwC Belgium’s Bridging the AI Gap survey.

Patrick Boone, Chairman of PwC Belgium, says: “AI is not displacing jobs but boosting worker value. For Belgium’s shrinking workforce, this presents real opportunities if we invest in both people and technology.”

About the AI Jobs Barometer
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The AI Jobs Barometer analysed close to a billion job ads and thousands of company financial reports across six continents to reveal AI's impact on jobs, wages, skills and productivity. The barometer includes the most recent available data, including job ads and company reports through the end of 2024. The analysis differentiates between highly automatable and highly augmentable roles.

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