Professional
Services

AI Jobs Barometer | Professional Services

Professional Services

Rapid AI adoption with growing AI skills requirements

AI is no longer just the domain of Big Tech. Its integration into traditional services within the Professional Services industry, such as consulting and legal services, is fast increasing—and with it, the demand for skilled talent.

The industry, which generally delivers value through knowledge and expertise, is already benefitting from AI augmentation and automation; a trend that has been recognised by leading professional services providers globally.

In this industry report, we examine how the Professional 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.

AI Jobs Barometer | Professional Services

A major contributor of economic growth and jobs

The Professional Services industry is rapidly growing: It was valued at $5.03 trillion in 2020¹, and is expected to grow at a rate of 5.7% to reach just under $8 trillion in 2029².

Homing in on the job market, data from our 2025 AI Jobs Barometer show that the industry's share of total job vacancies has remained broadly consistent, with minor fluctuations. The industry accounted for 9.8% of global job vacancies in 2024, marginally down from 11.3% in 2012 (Figure 1).

However, this stable share shouldn’t hide the significant underlying uptick in hiring in the industry. AI is rapidly becoming a key skill sought after in Professional Services. The World Economic Forum has projected significant growth in technology-related roles within the Professional Services industry, including AI specialists, software developers and fintech engineers. Due to technological advancements and digital transformation, these roles are among the fastest-growing jobs globally³.

Figure 1: The Professional Services industry’s share of job postings remained broadly consistent between 2012 and 2024

Share of job vacancies in the Professional 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.

^{[1] Global News Wire, ‘Professional services overview—market size, opportunities, trends and strategies,’ 6 May 2024}
^{[2] The Business Research Company, ‘Professional services global market report 2025,’January 2025}
^{[3] World Economic Forum,}^{The Future of Jobs Report 2025}^{, 7 January 2025}

AI Jobs Barometer | Professional Services

The Professional Services industry is a frontrunner in AI

The Professional Services industry is among the industries with the highest rates of AI adoption, according to the World Economic Forum. This is particularly true in functions generating large volumes of structured and unstructured data, such as in legal and consulting services⁴. Industry reports reveal that generative AI has enabled professionals to reclaim up to 20 hours a week from administrative tasks—and enhance deliverable quality by up to 30%⁵.

This rapid AI adoption has resulted in a surge in demand for AI skills, as seen by the growth of job postings requiring these skills in the Professional Services industry. The proportion of vacancies that require AI competencies has grown almost every year since 2012, reaching 5.1% in 2024, the second highest of all industries—on a par with Financial Services and lagging only the Information, Communication and Technology industry (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The Professional Services industry’s share of job postings requiring AI skills is among the highest of all industries

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

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

^{[4] World Economic Forum,}^{AI in Action: Beyond experimentation to Transform Industry}^{, January 2025}
^{[5] Firmwise,}^{AI in Professional Services: 2025 State of the Industry Report}^{, 20 March 2025}

AI Jobs Barometer | Professional Services

Augmentable jobs are seeing more robust demand

As is the case across most industries, job demand growth is stronger for augmentable jobs than for automatable ones in the Professional Services industry (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Job demand for augmentable roles is roughly double the demand growth for automatable roles in Professional Services

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

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

AI Jobs Barometer | Professional Services

All jobs are seeing rapid changes to skills requirements

Global trends across industries show that automatable jobs are experiencing the greatest skills disruption. Yet, in the Professional Services industry, the net skill change for jobs exposed to automation is similar to those exposed to augmentation—indicating that most jobs in the industry are seeing, and will continue to see, rapidly evolving skills requirements.

An exception to this trend is the United States—the largest market for the global Professional Services industry (Figure 4). In the United States, the net skill change for augmentable jobs is almost double that for automatable jobs. It may be that US employers have bolder plans for augmenting Professional Services roles with AI, and that AI skills requirements for such roles are thus evolving more rapidly.

In the United States, the net skill change for augmentable jobs is almost double that for automatable jobs.

Figure 4: Skills sought by employers are changing especially quickly for Professional Services jobs in the US and New Zealand

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

^{Sources: PwC analysis of Lightcast data}

For this analysis we use a subset of developed countries that have good data availability.

AI Jobs Barometer | Professional Services

Workers with AI skills are paid more

With AI skills increasingly sought after, it’s unsurprising that workers with these skills are being paid more than their counterparts without such skills.

In Professional Services, workers in both augmentable and automatable jobs are enjoying a 64% wage premium, surpassing the cross-industry average of 56% (Figure 5).

In Professional Services, workers in both augmentable and automatable jobs are enjoying a 64% wage premium.

Figure 5: Professional Services workers with AI skills command a 64%
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 | Professional 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.

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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