- Big tech companies like Google and Microsoft are competing to attract top AI talent.
- But workers may well be the real winners of the battle, as they get higher wages.
- Recent data from Levels.fyi and PwC shows that skilled AI jobs offer higher salaries.
Tech companies are engaged in an intense war to attract top AI talent.
Companies like Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Meta are competing fiercely to attract workers with AI skills.
But the real winners of the competition may well be the workers, who get high wages.
Ram Srinivasan, a future-of-work expert and managing director at consultancy JLL, told Business Insider that the race for AI talent “creates an exciting landscape for tech professionals.”
“AI talent is in high demand, and companies are offering impressive compensation packages. Some AI experts have received offers exceeding $1 million in total compensation, including substantial equity shares. This competitive market is driving up salaries and providing attractive financial incentives for tech workers,” Srinivasan said.
PwC analyzed more than half a billion job postings across 15 countries for its Global AI Jobs Barometer 2024. It concluded that Workers who learn to harness AI are likely to have a bright future despite the likely impact on employment in some sectors.
The war for talent appears to be turning in workers’ favor, with employers willing to pay more to attract those with AI skills. PwC’s report found that U.S. job postings seeking AI expertise are associated with a 25% wage premium.
A May report from Levels.fyi, a platform that allows tech workers to submit their compensation information, found that total compensation for AI engineers has been trending upward recently.
Salary trends data obtained by Levels.fyi showed that starting salaries for AI engineers in the United States increased to $300,600 in March, up from $231,000 in August 2022.
Its Q1 AI Engineer Compensation Trends report found that entry-level AI engineers are earning 8.6% more than non-AI engineers this year. At a higher level, AI engineers are earning nearly 11% more than their non-AI counterparts.
Workers may also have more leverage to negotiate even better pay and benefits because their expertise is in high demand.
People with experience in machine learning, engineering, and deep learning command impressive salaries. The median total compensation for a machine learning or AI software engineer is $140,823, according to Levels.fyi.
Large tech players must continue to be competitive to successfully recruit skilled AI workers, as many AI experts are attracted to startups, according to Srinivasan.
He said workers might find startups more appealing because they can “have more creative input and potentially reap significant financial rewards if the company succeeds.”
