The entry-level job market has rarely been this uneven. On one side, college graduates entering fields like consulting, finance or even traditional tech roles often face hiring freezes, stagnant wages and shrinking entry-level opportunities. On the other, a small but growing pool of graduates armed with artificial intelligence (AI) expertise are walking into a labour market where demand far outstrips supply and employers are willing to pay a premium to secure their skills.
According to a new report from hiring firm Burtch Works, workers with zero to three years of experience in AI are now earning an average of $131,139 a year, up 12% from 2023. In contrast, early-career data scientists average $109,545 annually.
“AI professionals still command a 9-13% cash premium over data scientists,” Burtch Works noted. “The gap is widest where scarce [generative AI] expertise adds the most value,” Burtch Works wrote in its report, adding, “If you’re seeking a job in AI and data science, quantify your genAI successes to demonstrate your skills in action [and] reference market data during salary negotiations.”
Industry matters too
Health care and pharma companies are leading the pay race, offering a mean salary of $123,804 to AI-fluent recruits. At the other end, consulting and tech firms, often seen as AI’s natural home, trail slightly at around $104,500. Still, across every sector, entry-level AI jobs are firmly in six-figure territory, the report further stated.
Intense appetite for AI skills
For young job seekers, the hiring frenzy in the AI space is unprecedented. Those who invest time in mastering AI tools, are walking into one of the hottest job markets in decades.
According to Indeed, job postings mentioning generative AI tripled between January 2024 and January 2025, following a 75-fold jump from 2022 to 2024. For new graduates, many of whom grew up experimenting with early AI chatbots and image tools, AI feels native. That familiarity can make them more adaptable than older professionals.
The appetite for AI skills is now so intense that hiring managers are rethinking traditional trade-offs. The 2024 Annual Work Trend Index by Microsoft and LinkedIn revealed that two-thirds of hiring managers wouldn’t even consider a candidate without AI skills. Many said they would rather take a fresh graduate fluent in AI than a seasoned professional with none.