Across UK businesses, artificial intelligence adoption is beginning to generate not just headcount reductions but new roles and demand for talent. According to Lloyds Bank’s monthly “Business Barometer” survey released on the 18th, 54% of UK companies said AI has created new jobs at their organizations. Twenty-one percent have established AI-specialist positions, and 24% now weigh AI skills in hiring decisions.
The survey was conducted in July among 1,200 UK companies. The findings suggest corporate perceptions of AI’s employment impact are shifting from “substitution” to “creation.”
Talent acquisition and development emerge as new challenges
A closer look at the results shows 31% of companies said their employees lack the AI skills they need, while 54% said they have the necessary capabilities. Differences by company size are pronounced: among firms with revenue exceeding £10 million (approximately $13.6 million), two-thirds said existing staff have sufficient AI skills, compared with just over half across the UK overall.
Appetite for investment in workforce development is also rising. Fifty-eight percent of companies said they plan to increase spending on AI skills training over the next year, 43% are considering launching new AI training programs, and 32% are working to expand existing ones. The focus of corporate management is shifting from simply deploying AI tools to securing talent who can use them effectively.
Amanda Murphy, CEO of Lloyds Bank’s Business & Commercial Banking division, noted that AI “has the potential to transform businesses as much as the internet did a generation ago.” She added that success is not determined by access to technology alone, emphasizing that “building the skills, culture, and confidence to use it is what matters.”
Adoption gaps and operational hurdles
AI adoption also varies significantly between companies. While 61% of all respondents said they currently use AI, the figure was 46% for businesses operating solely within the UK, compared with 63% for those with international operations.
Competitiveness concerns follow a similar pattern. Roughly 60% of companies agreed that “failing to adopt AI will put them at a disadvantage against competitors.” Among internationally active firms, 61% held that view, versus 46% of domestic-only businesses.
When asked about barriers to extracting sufficient value from AI, cost was the most cited obstacle at 18%, followed by data quality and access to skills at 17% each. Operational issues involving people and data — rather than the technology itself — are emerging as the next frontier.
AI talent competition accelerates in the job market
UK job posting data corroborates the growing demand for AI talent. According to PwC UK’s “2026 AI Jobs Barometer,” UK job postings requiring AI skills reached 180,000 in 2025, up sharply from 112,000 in 2024.
Postings for professionals who use AI in their work surged 65.8% year-on-year, while demand for AI developers rose 21.6%. The picture is clear: beyond automating existing tasks, demand is intensifying for workers who can actually work with AI.
Lloyds Banking Group is also expanding its own AI workforce. In June, the company announced plans to grow AI-related roles to more than 1,000 by 2026, with roughly 300 of those tied to agentic AI, recruiting from both inside and outside the organization.
Concerns over a bifurcating labor market
Yet AI’s impact on employment is far from uniform. Analysis of online job postings suggests AI is creating a “two-speed” labor market. Companies are aggressively hiring workers with AI skills while simultaneously trimming postings in other areas amid rising labor costs.
Since 2022, demand for roles highly exposed to AI — such as software developers and consultants — has fallen sharply. Among business leaders, the view that “AI will ultimately reduce job opportunities” is becoming mainstream.
Analysis by the Bank of England also indicates that while productivity at AI-adopting firms has improved, those gains have come alongside job reductions. Governor Andrew Bailey has noted that the challenge for businesses is shifting from merely adopting AI to actually translating it into productivity gains.
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July, has struck a more cautious tone, warning about AI’s impact on the labor market and younger workers.
AI holds the potential to help the UK escape its low-growth trajectory, but some argue its productivity effects will follow a “J-curve.” Companies need time to use AI effectively, meaning productivity could stagnate in the near term.