Aug 6 (Adnkronos/GNA) – Artificial intelligence isn’t reducing employment, but it is rewarding workers with advanced skills and profoundly transforming the labor market.
The wage premium for those with AI skills will rise to 62% in 2026, up from 57% the previous year, while job offers requiring these skills are growing eight times faster than the rest of the market.
This is according to an analysis by the Unimpresa Research Center, which compares leading international research on the relationship between AI, employment, and training.
The study finds that the phenomenon is especially transforming the youth labor market. Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that approximately 60% of jobs in advanced economies will be affected by AI, with the impact likely to be particularly pronounced in white-collar and knowledge-intensive professions.
Indeed, a 16% relative reduction in wages for workers aged 22 to 25 in the professions most exposed to AI has been observed. In the software development and customer service sectors, employment of junior profiles has decreased by 20% since the end of 2022, while that of more experienced workers has increased. The most exposed entry-level roles are seven times more likely to require skills typical of senior profiles, such as leadership, decision-making autonomy, and the ability to manage complex situations.
These data, according to Unimpresa, “demonstrate that AI is more easily replacing standardized knowledge, while increasing the value of experience, critical thinking, and judgment.
It is no coincidence that by the end of 2025, over a third of US workers were already using generative AI tools, with a slightly positive effect on wages and without a reduction in employment in the most exposed professions.”
As for Italy, “the adoption of Artificial Intelligence in companies with at least ten employees rose from 5% in 2023 to 16.4%, but a significant gap remains between large companies (53.1%) and small businesses (14.2%). Furthermore, 58.1% of SMEs that have considered introducing AI but have not adopted it cite a lack of internal skills as the main obstacle, even more so than the cost of the technology.”
“Artificial intelligence shouldn’t be considered a threat to jobs, but rather an extraordinary opportunity for growth, provided the country invests decisively in human capital. The data shows that where skills increase, employment and wages also increase,” explains Marco Pepe, national councilor for Unimpresa.
The problem, therefore, is not technology, but the speed with which workers, businesses, and the education system are able to adapt to change. Italy is catching up in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence by businesses, but a cultural and organizational lag remains evident.
It is significant that over half of small and medium-sized businesses identify a lack of internal skills as the main obstacle to the introduction of AI. This means that today the real investment is not just in software and digital infrastructure, but above all in people, training, and work organization.
We need to profoundly rethink the education system and vocational training. It is not enough to teach people how to use AI tools: we need to develop analytical skills, critical thinking, decision-making autonomy, and interdisciplinary skills. It is precisely these qualities that will make human labor complementary, not alternative, to machines.
Businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones, need simple, continuous training programs that are compatible with production activities. Lifelong learning, reskilling, and upskilling can no longer be considered accessory tools, but must become a structural component of industrial and labor market policies.
Artificial intelligence will inevitably change professions, but it won’t automatically lead to a reduction in employment. The real risk, according to Pepe, is different: “Creating a new divide between those with the skills to manage innovation and those who are excluded.
The responsibility of institutions, businesses, and the education system is to ensure that this transition becomes an opportunity for widespread growth and not a factor in increasing inequality. Only by investing in human capital will Italy be able to transform the AI āārevolution into a lasting competitive advantage for its economic system.”
GNA/Rgt/Adnkronos