Skills now more valuable for AI and green UK jobs

According to recent research, UK employers are shifting their focus from formal education to skills-based recruitment.

In a new report released on 26th February 2025, a team of researchers based at the Oxford Internet Institute found that UK employers are shifting their focus when recruiting and placing more value on specific skills rather than qualifications for AI and green jobs.

In the Skills or degree? The rise of skill-based hiring for AI and green jobs report, the team analysed more than 10 million UK online job vacancies posted between 2018 and 2024, examining the association between higher education qualifications, pay and skills.

Significant findings included:

‘Firms in the UK have switched to skill-based hiring for AI
‘There is a 21 % increase in demand for AI roles, with degree requirements dropping by 15 % for AI roles.
‘AI and green roles require above average education levels in job advertisements.
‘AI skills have a 23 % wage premium, exceeding the premium for degrees, particularly in high-demand occupations.
‘Educational premium on wages has disappeared for AI and green roles’. 1

Skills for the future

One of the report’s authors, Dr. Fabian Stephany, Departmental Research Lecturer in AI & Work, Oxford Internet Institute, commented:

Our research suggests that the UK’s labour market is undergoing a fundamental shift. The traditional path of university education leading to higher pay is no longer the default for AI professionals, who are now being rewarded for practical skills and industry-specific know-how…By valuing a candidate’s proven abilities as much as their academic background, employers can access to a far wider talent pool – one better suited to handle the rapid evolution defining the future of work. 2

Read the full paper here