The +1.3 Million New Jobs Being Created by AI
The latest research by LinkedIn has revealed that rather than costing jobs, AI has been a growth area, creating 600,000 data centre jobs and 1.3 million new AI engineering roles.
It’s undeniable that AI already has and is continuing to transform almost every sector. This is particularly evident in IT, tech and project management, with AI assisting in the detection of cyber threats, automating monotonous project-based tasks, streamlining data reporting, and more.
Although this AI-driven transformation may leave some worried about the future of their career, LinkedIn’s latest Labour Market Report has revealed that a staggering +1.3 million jobs have been created thanks to AI.
In this article, I’ve compiled the newest and most in-demand AI-driven jobs (with their salaries) that are shaping the labour market in 2026.
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As our Head of Education, Mark is passionate about ensuring Learning People delivers world-class curricula and training for people who want to launch or progress their careers in IT, Coding, and Project Management.
AI is Causing Data Centre Job Boom
With Goldman Sachs research forecasting that global power demand from data centres will increase 50% by 2027 (and by as much as 165% by the end of the decade) thanks to AI, additional investment into AI infrastructure is inevitable. In fact, this rapid growth has already created over 600,000 net new jobs globally over the past year.
Large-scale providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure (Microsoft), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are unsurprisingly the top creators of first-line data centre jobs.
So, what are the job titles really gaining momentum amid the AI boom?
The top-hired first-line roles are
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Data Centre Technician (12%),
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Data Technician (3%),
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Operations Technician (2%),
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Data Centre Operations Specialist (2%), and
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Facilities Technician (1%).
Many of these roles' responsibilities overlap, primarily focused on the installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of systems and hardware. According to job board Adzuna, the mean salary for first-line data centre roles is £51,539, 20.2% higher than the overall national mean salary.
Numerous professional data centre roles have also seen a surge in demand due to AI, including:
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Data Centre Engineer (9%),
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Data Specialist (4%),
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System Engineer (3%),
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Software Engineer (3%), and
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Network Engineer (2%).
This professional sphere is where most of the AI-jobs growth is concentrated, with 1.3 million new roles - like AI Engineers, Forward-Deployed Engineers and Data Annotators - being created between 2023 and 2025.
Notably, 70% of global executives surveyed believe that AI tools make their employees more efficient.
AI is Opening the Door to New Opportunities in Tech
Once again, the latest data and research stand in stark contrast to the “AI is taking jobs” rhetoric. In reality, AI is providing even more career choices in the already diverse tech and project management sectors than ever before.
The best way to transition into an AI-focused career in tech is to lay the foundations with globally recognised certifications. Get bespoke advice by arranging a free, no-obligation call with one of our expert Career Consultants today.
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