Media Release: Experience Still Trumps AI in the Hiring Race

AI skills may be rising up the hiring agenda, but experience still carries significantly more weight when choosing between candidates, according to new research from people2people Recruitment.

When presented with two otherwise equally suitable candidates, 69% would prefer someone with six years' experience and limited AI skills, compared with 31% who would choose a candidate with three years' experience and advanced AI capabilities.

And while AI proficiency is beginning to influence hiring decisions, it isn't necessarily attracting higher salaries. One in four (25%) would be less likely to hire a candidate who rarely or never uses AI tools at work, yet 75% would not pay someone with advanced AI skills more than a candidate with comparable experience.

Suhini Wijayasinghe, Head of HR Solutions at people2people Recruitment, said the results show AI skills are becoming an increasingly valuable addition to a candidate's experience, but are not yet a replacement for it.

"AI skills are becoming another part of what employers consider when assessing candidates, but they don't replace the judgement, knowledge and practical understanding that comes from experience," Ms Wijayasinghe said.

"What we may be starting to see is AI literacy becoming part of the baseline employers expect. Candidates could increasingly be expected to know how to use these tools effectively, without that capability necessarily commanding a salary premium on its own."

Experience remains the hiring advantage

Despite the growing importance of AI, the research indicates employers are unlikely to overlook traditional experience in favour of technology skills alone. When choosing between otherwise equally suitable candidates:

• 69% would hire a candidate with six years' experience and limited AI skills
• 31% would hire a candidate with three years' experience and advanced AI skills

However, one in four (25%) would be less likely to hire a candidate who said they rarely or never use AI tools in their work.

Ms Wijayasinghe said the findings point to a new balance emerging in recruitment.

"The message for candidates isn't that experience matters and AI doesn't. It's that increasingly you may need both," Ms Wijayasinghe said. 

"The strongest proposition is experience combined with the ability to use new technology effectively. Employers still value the judgement that comes from doing the job, but candidates also need to demonstrate that their skills are continuing to evolve as the workplace changes."

Is AI becoming a baseline skill?

AI skills are becoming important across the workforce, with the research finding:

• 37% say AI skills matter at all career levels
• 26% say they matter at entry level
• 21% see AI skills as most important at mid-level
• 16% see them as most important at senior level

There is also a clear generational divide around where AI capabilities matter most. Half of Gen Z (50%) believe AI skills are most important for entry-level roles, while 50% of Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers say they are important at all career levels.

"For people entering the workforce, AI literacy could increasingly become part of the baseline skill set expected by organisations," Ms Wijayasinghe said. "At the same time, AI is changing roles at every level of an organisation, so developing these skills shouldn't be viewed as something only graduates or younger workers need to do." 

AI skills could attract higher salaries

While AI skills may help candidates compete for roles, most respondents don't believe they should automatically command higher pay.

When comparing two job seekers with similar experience, 75% would not pay a higher salary for the candidate with advanced AI skills. 

Of those who would pay more:

• 12% would pay an additional $10,000 or more
• 6% would pay an additional $5,000-$10,000
• 6% would pay up to an additional $5,000

Attitudes vary considerably by generation. Among Baby Boomers and Gen X, 35% would pay some level of premium for advanced AI skills, including 21% who would pay an additional $10,000 or more.

Among Millennials, 32% would pay more, while just 5% of Gen Z would pay a premium for advanced AI skills.

"The Gen Z findings are particularly interesting. Half say AI skills are most important at entry level, yet 95% wouldn't pay more for advanced AI capability," Ms Wijayasinghe said.

"That could indicate younger workers increasingly see AI proficiency as something people entering the workforce should already have, rather than a specialist capability that automatically deserves additional pay."

Experience plus AI could become the new advantage

Ms Wijayasinghe said candidates should avoid treating AI capability as a substitute for developing deeper professional expertise.

"Knowing how to use AI is increasingly valuable, but employers are still looking for the human capabilities that sit around it: judgement, problem solving, communication, commercial understanding and experience," Ms Wijayasinghe said.

"For job seekers, the opportunity is to show how they are using AI to make their existing skills and experience more effective, rather than presenting AI capability as a skill in isolation.

"And for employers, it means thinking carefully about what good looks like in each role. AI proficiency may increasingly become expected, but the level and type of capability required will be very different depending on the job."

www.people2people.com.au

PR Contact: Lisa Solomons | 360 PR | lisa@360pr.com.au | 0416 175 518