AI skills now driving UK pay & promotion decisions

HiBob has published research showing that AI skills are influencing promotions, performance ratings and pay decisions in UK businesses. The findings point to a broader shift in how employers assess staff and candidates.

A survey of 200 UK business leaders involved in hiring and assessing AI talent found that 63% of organisations link AI skills to promotion decisions, 61% factor them into performance ratings and 31% connect them directly to pay.

Demand appears to be spreading beyond specialist technical teams. Some 77% of respondents expect the ability to use AI effectively to become a baseline requirement across most non-technical roles within the next two years, while 82% say their organisations are investing in upskilling or reskilling staff to meet that change.

Pay pressure

The research suggests employers are attaching a financial premium to some of the hardest-to-find skills. AI safety, ethics and governance emerged as the area attracting the strongest pay uplift, with 43% saying they would pay at least 10% more for that expertise.

Other AI-related skills also carried a premium. The study found that 39% would pay more for people who can evaluate and improve AI outputs, while 37% would pay more for automation and technical integration experience. Just 3% would not offer a premium for any AI-related skills.

Employers are also using non-pay measures to attract AI-skilled workers. Clearer performance metrics were cited by 30% of respondents, opportunities to lead or join AI initiatives by 29%, and defined career pathways linked to AI capability by 28%.

Hiring strain

Even as employers increase rewards, recruitment remains difficult. The hardest skillset to recruit for was AI safety, ethics and governance, cited by 41% of respondents, followed by automation and technical integration at 38%, and workflow evaluation and redesign at 36%.

That scarcity is prompting a more deliberate hiring approach. Four in five respondents said they have a defined strategy for sourcing candidates with strong AI skills, including talent communities, applicant tracking system tagging and referral campaigns.

Many organisations are also trying to build skills internally rather than relying only on the external market. While 82% are investing in upskilling or reskilling, the methods vary. Around a third offer funded learning, protected practice time or prompt and workflow libraries, while 99% say peer coaching is important.

The figures suggest much of the practical burden of AI skills development sits with managers and teams. That could leave uneven standards between organisations and departments as businesses try to fold AI use into day-to-day work.

Management challenge

The survey also found that companies are beginning to track whether those skills improve results. The most commonly measured outcomes were quality and accuracy, cited by 32%, followed by compliance and risk reduction at 29%, with time saved and cost savings both at 25%.

Ken Matos, director of insights at HiBob, said: “AI skills are no longer a future requirement. They’re already shaping who gets promoted, how performance is measured and, increasingly, how much people are paid. Employees are now expected to use AI with judgment, accountability and consistency, reflecting a broader shift where AI is not just a technology change but a cultural one that demands new skills and discipline.

“The challenge for organisations is turning that expectation into something practical. That means defining what strong AI capability looks like, embedding it into roles and performance, and giving managers the confidence to assess and develop it.

“Managers are increasingly expected to lead this shift, but many organisations have yet to invest in the structure, training and support needed to help them do so effectively. The next phase of AI adoption will depend on how well businesses equip their managers to turn AI from a tool into a consistent way of working.”

The results add to evidence that AI literacy is moving into the mainstream of workforce planning. For employers, that means AI is no longer only a recruitment issue for specialist teams, but part of how organisations judge readiness for progression, assess performance and set pay.

For workers, the findings indicate that familiarity with AI tools, oversight and responsible use is becoming more closely tied to career prospects. The strongest demand is not only for technical implementation, but also for the ability to govern AI use safely and assess the quality of its output.