Workers with AI skills may get more jobs—but they lose negotiating power in this key department

Companies want to hire workers with artificial intelligence skills, but don’t want to pay the premium. Those are the findings from a new report from Payscale, a leading online provider of data on salaries and compensation.

Payscale’s 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report finds that while 60% of companies mention AI as part of their job descriptions, only 55% are willing to shell out extra money for those skills in the form of higher salaries, bonuses or even equity in the company.

Why? Well, according to the report, there are a few reasons for the discrepancy, including the impact of a tight job market on hiring, coming at a time when businesses are also tightening their budgets.

In fact, 51% of the businesses surveyed say their biggest challenge in the current economic landscape is balancing employee pay expectations with budget constraints. It could be that while companies want to pay more, they just don’t have the cash.

So, how much are jobs paying? The report finds the median base pay increase in 2026 is only 3.5%.

Job hugging trend continues in workplace

Another reason for lower-than-desired salaries is “job hugging“—the current trend where employees are staying longer in their positions and choosing not to leave their jobs.

Only about 8% of U.S. workers are actually voluntarily quitting, the report finds. And those positions take about 30 days to fill, signaling “reduced churn” and less urgency on the part of companies to compete aggressively for talent.

According to the report, 40% of the organizations surveyed say they have indeed experienced “job hugging” in 2025, with 15% agreeing that it inhibits business growth.

With confidence in finding a new job at an all-time low among workers, and “workers hold[ing] onto their jobs for dear life”—it’s no wonder AI skills aren’t boosting salaries across the board.

How AI is transforming the job market

While 59% of the human resource leaders and compensation teams that Payscale surveyed say they are not replacing employees with AI now or in the future, 30% already are—or are considering it for the future.

Construction, business services, technology (including software), and healthcare are the leading industries already replacing workers with AI, according to the report.

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