arXiv subjects

Matthew Bone

Publications and source records attributed to Matthew Bone.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Beyond pay: AI skills reward more job benefits

This study investigates the non-monetary rewards associated with artificial intelligence (AI) skills in the U.S. labour market. Using a dataset of approximately ten million online job vacancies from 2018 to 2024, we identify AI roles-positions requiring at least one AI-related skill-and examine the extent to which these roles offer non-monetary benefits such as tuition assistance, paid leave, health and well-being perks, parental leave, workplace culture enhancements, and remote work options. While previous research has documented substantial wage premiums for AI-related roles due to growing demand and limited talent supply, our study asks whether this demand also translates into enhanced non-monetary compensation. We find that AI roles are significantly more likely to offer such perks, even after controlling for education requirements, industry, and occupation type. It is twice as likely for an AI role to offer parental leave and almost three times more likely to provide remote working options. Moreover, the highest-paying AI roles tend to bundle these benefits, suggesting a compound premium where salary increases coincide with expanded non-monetary rewards. AI roles offering parental leave or health benefits show salaries that are, on average, 12% to 20% higher than AI roles without this benefit. This pattern is particularly pronounced in years and occupations experiencing the highest AI-related demand, pointing to a demand-driven dynamic. Our findings underscore the strong pull of AI talent in the labor market and challenge narratives of technological displacement, highlighting instead how employers compete for scarce talent through both financial and non-financial incentives.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2024

Complement or substitute? How AI increases the demand for human skills

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the nature of work, yet there is limited empirical evidence on how it affects demand for human skills. This paper examines whether AI adoption increases the prevalence and value of human capabilities that complement technical AI skills, such as analytical thinking, resilience, or ethical judgment, within and beyond AI-intensive job roles. Using a dataset of nearly 30 million job postings from the US, the UK and Australia, between 2018 and 2024, we distinguish between internal effects (within AI roles) and external effects (in non-AI roles) across companies, industries, and regions. This paper has three main findings. First, we find that AI-intensive roles are significantly more likely to require complementary non-technical capabilities, such as analytical thinking, resilience, and digital literacy. Second, these complementary skills are associated with meaningful wage premiums, particularly in managerial, sales or finance roles working with AI. Third, we show that AI diffusion has potential spillover effects: as AI adoption rises within companies, industries, and regions, demand for complementary skills increases even in non-AI roles while demand for substitutable skills - summarisation, translation or customer service - decreases. These trends hold across geographies, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, confirming the robustness of our findings. Together, these findings indicate that AI is not simply replacing tasks or requiring more AI developer skills; it may be transforming workforce skill requirements to favor human attributes that enhance collaboration with intelligent systems.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2023

Skills or Degree? The Rise of Skill-Based Hiring for AI and Green Jobs

Emerging professions in fields like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and sustainability (green jobs) are experiencing labour shortages as industry demand outpaces labour supply. In this context, our study aims to understand whether employers have begun focusing more on individual skills rather than formal qualifications in their recruitment processes. We analysed a large time-series dataset of approximately eleven million online job vacancies in the UK from 2018 to mid-2024, drawing on diverse literature on technological change and labour market signalling. Our findings provide evidence that employers have initiated "skill-based hiring" for AI roles, adopting more flexible hiring practices to expand the available talent pool. From 2018-2023, demand for AI roles grew by 21% as a proportion of all postings (and accelerated into 2024). Simultaneously, mentions of university education requirements for AI roles declined by 15%. Our regression analysis shows that university degrees have a significantly lower wage premium for both AI and green roles. In contrast, AI skills command a wage premium of 23%, exceeding the value of degrees up until the PhD-level (33%). In occupations with high demand for AI skills, the premium for skills is high, and the reward for degrees is relatively low. We recommend leveraging alternative skill-building formats such as apprenticeships, on-the-job training, MOOCs, vocational education and training, micro-certificates, and online bootcamps to fully utilise human capital and address talent shortages.

econ.GN↗