Key Points:

  • AI-related job postings are rising, hitting 2% of all jobs at the end of February 2024. But AI-related postings are still short of their recent peak of 3.3%, reached in March 2022.
  • AI-related job postings remain well below their recent high because job postings are depressed in the sectors most likely to list AI jobs, including Mathematics and Software Development.
  • The recent uptick in AI job postings is attributable not to a pick-up in job postings in AI-heavy sectors, but rather an increase in the AI share of job postings, particularly for Software Development jobs.   

Our monthly Labor Market Update looks at an important labor market trend through the lens of Indeed data. A more comprehensive view of the US labor market can be found in our US Labor Market Overview chartbook. Data from our Job Postings Index — which stands 18% above its pre-pandemic baseline as of March 8 — and the Indeed Wage Tracker are regularly updated, and can be downloaded on our data portal and GitHub. 

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), and artificial intelligence (AI) tools more broadly, may destroy jobs in the future. But today, both technologies are already creating new jobs, and have been for a while. 

GenAI, which can produce text, images, and audio, captured the world’s attention when it exploded onto the scene in late 2022. The tools’ new capabilities have provoked speculation — and fear — over how jobs may change or even be eliminated in the near future as the tools improve. At the moment, Hiring Lab research suggests GenAI is more likely to augment certain roles, rather than fully replace them. Which is not yet stopping the tremendous growth in adoption and development of the tools. While still a very small share of total US jobs, GenAI-related jobs have grown rapidly since January 2023, from just 3 in 100,000 job postings to 11 in 10,000 as of the end of February 2024, a more than 30-fold increase. 

A line graph titled “Gen AI jobs are rare, but they are growing quickly” covering from January 2022 through February 2024. The graph shows an almost nonexistent level of Gen AI jobs until very rapid growth from the beginning of 2023 until February 2024.
A line graph titled “Gen AI jobs are rare, but they are growing quickly” covering from January 2022 through February 2024. The graph shows an almost nonexistent level of Gen AI jobs until very rapid growth from the beginning of 2023 until February 2024.

But companies have been hiring for roles related to other AI skills and technologies more broadly — think machine learning or machine vision — for years.  However, growth in broader AI jobs is far more muted than growth in GenAI-specific jobs, even as the total level of broad AI jobs remains much higher. AI-related job postings have been rising since last summer, but their share of overall postings is still well below its recent peak.

At the end of February, 2% of job postings on Indeed included AI-related keywords, up from a recent low of 1.64% in June 2023, but well below the 3.3% peak registered in March 2022. Given the anticipation and excitement about AI, why are postings for the field stifled?

A line graph titled “AI jobs are bouncing back, but remain below their 2022 peak” showing the share of AI-related jobs in the US from January 2019 through February 2024. The graph shows a large rise in 2021 in the AI job postings share and then a dramatic drop until June 2023. The AI share then rises through February 2024.
A line graph titled “AI jobs are bouncing back, but remain below their 2022 peak” showing the share of AI-related jobs in the US from January 2019 through February 2024. The graph shows a large rise in 2021 in the AI job postings share and then a dramatic drop until June 2023. The AI share then rises through February 2024.

First, it’s clear that the recent wave of enthusiasm around AI has centered on GenAI more specifically. But more broadly, the AI labor market is deeply connected to the tech labor market — and postings for tech-related jobs overall are currently depressed. Consider the two occupational sectors with the highest share of broadly AI-related job postings: Mathematics and Software Development. As of Feb. 29, postings for Mathematics roles are down 58% since March 2022, when AI job postings peaked, according to the Indeed Job Postings Index. The pullback is more severe within the Software Development sector, with postings down 67% over the same period. 

So, does this mean that the recent increase in AI jobs can be attributed to an uptick in the broader tech labor market? In short, no. Postings for Mathematics and Software Development are down 3.5% and 11%, respectively, since June 2023 (the recent low point for AI-related job postings). The increase in the overall AI-related job share since then is attributable primarily to a rise in the share of jobs within specific sectors that are related to AI. In other words, job postings specifically related to AI are on the upswing, even as job postings within the category overall continue to slide. The rising AI-related share of Software Development jobs has been the largest contributor to the overall AI-related job share increase since bottoming out last June. Almost a quarter (22%) of Software Development jobs were AI-related at the end of February, up from 19% in June 2023. The overall tech labor market might not be rebounding, but our data suggests employers are starting to pivot back toward AI jobs.

A line graph titled “AI jobs are on the rise in the Software Development sector” showing the AI share of Software Development jobs from January 2019 to February 2024. The AI share in this sector rose from 2019 through early 2022 before falling until summer 2023. The share is now rising and is almost at its March 2022 peak.
A line graph titled “AI jobs are on the rise in the Software Development sector” showing the AI share of Software Development jobs from January 2019 to February 2024. The AI share in this sector rose from 2019 through early 2022 before falling until summer 2023. The share is now rising and is almost at its March 2022 peak.

The short-term outlook for AI jobs will likely remain tied to the overall tech market, and a larger increase in the AI share will require a broader rebound in tech job postings as a whole. But it also seems clear that tech employers are shifting more toward AI. For job seekers, this trend means tilting their interests and skills toward artificial intelligence if they want to land a tech role. More broadly, increased hiring for AI-related jobs points toward deeper corporate investments in these technologies. The possible returns on these investments, and their effects on productivity, are uncertain, exciting, and potentially anxiety-inducing all at once. We’ll continue to track AI jobs to get a better sense of how this trend progresses.

Methodology

The AI share of job postings is calculated by extracting job postings related to AI generally, using a broader list of keywords indicating skills associated with AI. This category of job postings includes Generative AI job postings.

The analysis involved extracting job postings directly related to Generative AI, using specific keywords indicating its presence, such as “Generative AI,” “Large Language Models,” and “Chat GPT.”