Companies crossing global borders In search of skilled AI talent

The jury is still out on the ultimate impact of artificial intelligence on the global workforce. But for now at least, companies appear to be eager to hire employees with AI expertise wherever they can be found.

“Our data shows a steady increase in AI, data science and software development roles over the past two years, as companies throughout the world aim to contribute to this emerging technology,” said Samuel Dahan, chief policy officer for Deel. “Hiring has paved the way for AI to become a truly global role, with companies in the United States leading in AI hiring and talent coming from countries like India, Brazil, Canada and Argentina.”

Deel, a global HR platform, reports a worldwide increase in AI roles, both in workers hired and in organizations that are hiring. The company had more than 5,000 active AI, data science and engineering contracts with more than 2,100 organizations as of September. Several trends have emerged:

• The number of AI, software engineering and data science roles paid through Deel organizations grew 60% in the last year.
• There was a 59% increase in organizations hiring AI, software engineering and data science roles over the last year.
• The United States dominated AI hiring, followed closely by Canada, the United Kingdom and to a lesser extent, Germany.
• Canada led AI worker hires, followed by India, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom.
• Salaries vary by region, but Latin America benefitted most from AI growth, with a modest but steady increase in average salaries over the year.

“No region is immune to the AI hiring craze,” a report from Deel said. “Our hypothesis is that complementary trends have allowed AI to touch all corners of the globe. The speed of adoption necessitated a rate of hiring that broke traditional hiring barriers globally. However, this paradigm shift toward global hiring was only possible because of emerging employer-of-record models that allow for the cross-border onboarding of highly skilled talent.”

Several trends confirm the increasing internationalization of AI talent:

• India is leading the way in new AI roles, with positions such as AI engineer, AI training lead and AI computer vision engineer.
• S. companies increasingly are hiring AI talent in Brazil, Canada and Argentina.
• City hotspots include Toronto (7% increase): Bangalore (India) and London (3%); and Lahore (Pakistan), Berlin and Buenos Aires (2%).

Related: Employees and HR agree: AI increases productivity

• The United Kingdom and Canada increasingly are hiring AI talent from the United States.
• The most new contracts were created in Germany (52% increase), the United States (44%) and the United Kingdom (41%).

“It’s exciting to see a skill so in-demand globally that can continue to eliminate hiring borders and engage the global workforce,” Dahan said.