Businesses are rapidly demanding higher AI literacy from their workforce, but most are not responding in kind with updated job descriptions or compensation.
Since 2022, the share of jobs explicitly requiring AI proficiency has tripled, and reaches far beyond engineering teams into routine marketing, recruiting and operations positions, according to Oyster’s Global AI Talent Report. Yet more than 60% of employers adding AI mandates to existing jobs have offered neither a title adjustment nor a pay raise along with the changing workload.
The result is a widening disconnect between the work employees actually deliver and the outdated job descriptions and contracts that govern them.
AI is not only a requirement for technical jobs
It’s easy to assume the rise of AI skill requirements is confined to technical teams, but AI expectations are creeping into jobs that have never demanded technical expertise. Sixty-five percent of HR professionals say their company has added AI requirements to nontechnical roles, formally or informally, the Oyster report indicates.
Engineering sits at the top, with 23% of roles requiring AI skills, but 17% of marketing coordinator roles, 15% of recruiter roles and 10% of operations coordinator roles now explicitly ask for AI skills, Oyster says.
AI also is more commonly used where the daily work happens. Between 11% and 13% of roles from junior through principal individual contributor require AI skills compared with 8% to 9% of director, vice president and C-suite roles.
Response, communication is lagging
Among respondents whose companies added AI requirements to nontechnical roles, 46% say employees were not formally told.
Oyster CEO Hadi Moussa says the explanation is quite simple. “Jobs have been moving and shifting relatively quickly,” while HR teams, leadership teams and “the whole paperwork and processes” have not followed at the same pace.
Nearly every job has changed in some ways, he says, pointing to a marketing coordinator role as an example. Three years ago, the role involved briefing agencies on campaigns, building calendars, collecting reports and chasing internal approvals. Today, with AI, the same person can automate much of the workflow and be much more productive, yet they are still seen as the same marketing coordinator. Title, compensation and performance criteria have not necessarily changed.
Why it matters
The gap is more than an administrative loose end. When someone automates part of their job, the usual outcome is not a reward. “Either the job stays the same, or they get more work, or, in the worst case, their role really shrinks,” says Moussa, adding that organizations “really have to update that.”
The result is that employees often have little incentive to keep investing in AI skills, and employers risk losing the people driving AI change — the very people who are really sought after right now.
What HR teams can do
Organizations should move quickly to reflect how roles have actually changed in job titles, descriptions and requirements. This might include spending time in each function to identify what is improving efficiency, learning how roles are shifting over time and assessing internal talent to determine who is ready to move into new roles.
Moussa’s advice starts with scale: Do not try to fix everything at once. Pick two to three areas that matter to the business and where quick wins are possible, redesign the roles there, then use the result as a template for the rest of the company. Oyster did exactly that, starting with its operations and service teams: “We did a deep dive on each one of those, and then we reimagined what the organization would look like for those areas. Then we took that and used it as the template.”
Organizations must also determine how to assess and reward the employees driving change by integrating AI into their work. He distinguishes between people who apply AI when, say, drafting emails or documents, which is now expected of everyone, and people who build with AI, revamping internal workflows and multiplying their output. The second group is where recognition, financial incentives or moves into newly created roles belong.
A practical starting list:
- Pick two or three high-impact functions and map how the roles have really changed.
- Update titles, job descriptions and requirements to match the work being done.
- Tell employees formally what has changed and what is now expected.
- Define what “building with AI” means in your organization and attach recognition, pay or advancement to it.
Learn more about Oyster’s Global AI Talent Report.
About Oyster
Oyster is a global employment platform that helps companies hire the best people anywhere and treat them right everywhere. As the only B Corp-certified Employer of Record, we give companies both modern technology and in-house expert support so they can navigate international hiring with confidence, clarity, and speed. Learn more at oysterhr.com.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.