{"id":10863,"date":"2026-02-05T16:18:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T21:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aquent.com\/news\/aquent-report-shows-ai-skills-drive-new-pay-divide-as-high-tech-roles-surge"},"modified":"2026-08-05T09:55:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T14:55:54","slug":"aquent-report-shows-ai-skills-drive-new-pay-divide-as-high-tech-roles-surge","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/aquent.com\/en-gb\/news\/aquent-report-shows-ai-skills-drive-new-pay-divide-as-high-tech-roles-surge","title":{"rendered":"Aquent report shows AI Skills drive new pay divide as high-tech roles surge"},"content":{"rendered":"    \n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\" id=\"block_99e3e53234c41713734d3d3bcc3c4c7a\">\n    <div><span><\/span><\/div>\n    <p>\u201cThe fastest growing salaries are for roles that combine technical depth with the ability to apply AI at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n    <cite class=\"blockquote__attribution\">\n                    <span class=\"blockquote__name\">Simon Lusty<\/span>\n                            <span class=\"blockquote__location\">COO, Aquent<\/span>\n            <\/cite>\n<\/blockquote><!-- #block_99e3e53234c41713734d3d3bcc3c4c7a -->\n\n\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<?xml encoding=\"UTF-8\"><html><body><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph \">In a recent HR Dive article, new data from Aquent&rsquo;s 2026 Salary Guide reveals a widening compensation gap between AI-driven roles and more traditional positions, underscoring a &ldquo;stark divide&rdquo; in the labor market. The analysis shows machine learning engineers saw 6% median salary growth last year, more than double the 2.8% growth for copy editors, highlighting how workforce trends are evolving across marketing, creative and technology fields. According to Aquent, AI-adjacent and technically specialized roles continue to drive significant salary momentum, fueled by rising demand for skills that support digital transformation. Aquent's research emphasizes that organizations must prioritize competitive compensation for high-impact technical talent as AI adoption accelerates.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<?xml encoding=\"UTF-8\"><html><body><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph \"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<?xml encoding=\"UTF-8\"><html><body><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph \"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aquent's 2026 Salary Guide reports widening salary gaps as AI expertise becomes key to competitive compensation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":""},"class_list":["post-10863","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 4.9.10 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Aquent\u2019s 2026 Salary Guide reports widening salary gaps as AI expertise becomes key to competitive compensation.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aquent.com\/en-gb\/news\/aquent-report-shows-ai-skills-drive-new-pay-divide-as-high-tech-roles-surge\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO Pro (AIOSEO) 4.9.10\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aquent\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aquent 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