AI skills surge 109% in 2025 as companies adopt AI
AI skills are hotter than ever, with demand jumping 109% in 2025 as more companies bring AI into their daily work.
Despite all the talk about automation taking over jobs, roles like software development are still going strong.
Employers are looking for people who can actually make these new tools work for them.
Upwork shows video generation up 300%+
Some of the fastest-growing AI skills? Video generation and editing shot up by more than 300%. There's also big demand for folks skilled in AI integration (up 178%) and data annotation and labeling (up 154%).
Even image editing (95%) and chatbot development (71%) saw solid growth.
As Upwork's Teng Liu puts it, "Our data shows that AI isn't erasing the need for human work; it's clarifying where human expertise matters most," and "Even as AI capabilities expand rapidly, businesses continue to invest in foundational skills and are willing to pay a premium for talent that brings creativity, judgment, and problem-solving into AI-enabled work."