Top 10 sectors hiring AI workers in 2024 as searches surpass 2.9 million

According to research published by Statista, in January 2024 alone, the number of searches for the phrase “AI job openings” exceeded 2.9 million across the United States, which is a 20% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

Analysis of Google searches via Google Trends reveals that searches for “AI jobs” have been steadily increasing month over month this year, peaking in May.

This strong interest in AI jobs and careers is likely due to several factors, including:

• Widespread adoption of AI across industries beyond technology
• New, sought-after professional roles are emerging
• Fear of losing current job
• Of course, the high salaries associated with AI roles are due to a combination of high demand and low supply of talent.

Specializing in AI, or even adding it to your skill set as part of your current role, can be incredibly rewarding and exciting, as you can gain first-hand insight into the enormous benefits it offers in terms of reducing time and money, accelerating your productivity, and offering insights you wouldn’t be able to gather anywhere else. And of course, there’s the fact that Generative AI itself is a skill that can increase your salary by up to 47% — making it the highest-paid tech skill right now, according to Indeed.

Top 10 sectors hiring for AI jobs in 2024

AIPRM analysts recently conducted a study to discover which sectors and industries in the US saw the most AI job openings this year.

To achieve this, they collected a dataset of 120,000 LinkedIn job postings from Kaggle. The results revealed that 10 industries have the most AI-related job postings:

1. Information and communication
2. Professional, scientific and technical activities – (this is certainly not surprising)
3. Art, Entertainment and Recreation
4. Financial and insurance activities
5. Production
6. Supply of electricity, gas, steam and air for air conditioning systems
7. Public Administration and Defense – Compulsory Social Security
8. Agriculture, forestry and fishing
9. Education
10. Other types of service activities

7 In-Demand AI Jobs in 2024

The top AI jobs in the first three industries—information and communications, professional and technical, and entertainment/arts—typically include:

1. Data scientist
2. Artificial Intelligence Researcher
3. Machine Learning Engineer
4. Data scientist
5. Algorithm programmer
6. AI Artists/Designers
7. VR/AR Developer

The surge in interest in AI careers shows that we are rapidly approaching a future where AI skills will be required across all industries and sectors. It is no longer limited to the tech industry.

If you’re a job seeker, you’ll quickly realize that your ability to adapt to AI-enabled roles is critical to your success in your job search and will allow you to stand out as a candidate in the talent market as companies continue to digitally transform and implement AI.

Even if you’re not actively looking for a job, it’s still important to be aware of the different ways AI is revolutionizing your industry, and what AI-focused roles and functions you might soon be working with in your day-to-day work. When AI specialists join your team, how might that impact your day-to-day operations, what tasks are necessary for your role, who you report to, and so on?

In addition, we need to think about AI roles beyond the roles listed above and consider that AI is part of our everyday work lives. Companies are quickly realizing that AI not only offers automation, but can radically improve decision-making processes and even optimize customer experiences while improving operational efficiency. This requires professionals who equip themselves with AI knowledge and technical skills, build cross-functional skills, transition into fully technical AI roles when necessary, and become AI hybrids—essentially, someone who has a strong understanding of their domain, as well as AI and data science skills.

AI jobs alone won’t give you a leg up in your career. Not everyone wants to work exclusively in tech. But AI jobs—and the skill sets that come with them—will take your career to the next level.