Jobs boost as UK rides AI wave

New research suggests Britain is on course to be the global leader in Artificial Intelligence technology. It is now creating AI jobs faster than the US, Canada and Australia – with data from Indeed showing that the number of jobs in the UK has tripled since 2015.

There is, however, still a challenge to find the talent. Indeed found that the share of available AI jobs in Britain outstripped the share of interested candidates by six times. The number of UK jobseekers looking for roles has doubled since 2015, but it’s still struggling to keep up with demand from employers. At the start of 2018, 1,300 out of every million UK jobs advertised on Indeed were in AI, nearly double the level in Canada and over 20% more than in the US.

“From both a jobs and a society perspective, AI is a technology that has the potential to be truly transformative. While the jury is still out on how many existing roles could be made redundant as it becomes more widespread, or whether its potential for job creation outweighs any losses, in the short-term AI is providing a shot in the arm to Britain’s jobs market,” says Tara Sinclair, Economist and Senior Fellow at Indeed.

“A number of companies are exploring how AI might be used to boost their bottomline, while also holding out the prospect of previously undreamt of technology that could one day excite and delight millions of people. Britain’s reputation as a tech leader has made it a natural home for the booming AI sector, and the UK’s concentration of AI jobs has risen steadily - and now outstrips that in the other major English-speaking countries. AI jobs are not for everyone, as they require highly specialised skills. So it’s essential that post-Brexit Britain retains the ability to attract the global talent it needs to keep its AI sector in pole position.”