Indeed’s AI at Work ReportIndeed’s AI at Work Report
How GenAI will impact jobs
and the skills needed toperform them

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform themHow GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform themIndeed’s AI at Work is a series of research reports from Hiring Lab,
Indeed’s economic research arm. This research is designed toprovide data and new insights into the impact of AI on the labormarket to help employers and job seekers better understand andprepare for the changing workforce.
Indeed Hiring Lab creates innovative data insights on the global
labor market that inspire new conversations about the state ofwork. As the economic research arm of Indeed, the world’s number
one job site, Hiring Lab is driven by a team of leading economists

Dr. Annina Hering
Dr. Annina Hering is an economist at Indeed
Hiring Lab and was the principal researcher forand data scientists who provide thought leadership on global labor

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills required

market conditions, including hiring trends, salary information,

to do them. Annina wrote her dissertation in

popular skills, and employer benefits. Hiring Lab analyzes millions

the social science at the University of Cologne.

of data points across time collected from Indeed’s job postings,

Previously she worked as a postdoctoral

resumes, and job seeker behaviors to reveal emerging trends in
the United States and across the world.
The unique insights generated by Hiring Lab inform talentmanagement, employment, and labor policy decisions forbusinesses, researchers, academics, and job seekers alike. Hiring
Lab partners with a range of policy-making organizations andNGOs including the International Monetary Fund, the European

researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the
Study of Societies, where she was also part of theInternational Max Planck Research School on theSocial and Political Constitution of the Economy(IMPRS-SPCE). She holds a M.Sc. in Sociology
and Empirical Research from the University of
Cologne and a B.A. in Politics and Society fromthe University of Bonn.

Central Bank, and the Bank of Canada to produce timely, incisive
research. Hiring Lab data is also regularly cited in prominent
business publications such as The Wall Street Journal, CNN,
Reuters, The Globe and Mail, Der Spiegel, and The Financial Times.
Hiring Lab economists regularly speak about labor market trends
at leading industry, policy, and academic conferences.

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Indeed’s AI at Work Report

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform them

Executive summary
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is poised to influence virtually
every job on the planet. But which jobs will be most affected andwhy? To get the answers, Indeed’s economic research team - Hiring
Lab - analyzed Indeed’s universe of more than 55 million job postingsand more than 2,600 skills to identify the

While earlier
advances inrobotics andcomputing largely
impacted andreplaced manuallabor, knowledge
workers are much
more likely to be
impacted by thisevolution in GenAI
technology.

exposure level (low/moderate/high) GenAI
will have on jobs and the skills required toperform them. Virtually all jobs on Indeed
face some potential exposure to GenAIdriven change. But the level of exposure
varies, with only 1 in 5 of jobs facing thehighest level of potential exposure.
Although GenAI shows proficiency indoing some of a job’s required skills, itremains unable to perform others. As aresult, many jobs will change because of
GenAI, but the vast majority are unlikely
to disappear altogether. While earlier
advances in robotics and computing

largely impacted and replaced manual labor, knowledge workers aremuch more likely to be impacted by this evolution in GenAI technology.
Software development jobs have the highest potential exposure
to GenAI augmentation, meaning GenAI is “good” or “excellent” at
95% of the skills in software development job postings. By contrast,
driving jobs have the least potential impact since GenAI is “good” or“excellent” at less than one-third of required skills in driving jobs.

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Indeed’s AI at Work Report

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform them

KEY POINTSAll jobs face some potential exposure to GenAI-drivenchange. While only 19.8% of jobs face the highest levelof potential exposure, more than a third (34.6%) face thelowest potential exposure.
Unlike prior advances in robotics and computing thatlargely impacted manual labor, roles filled by knowledge
workers are potentially the most exposed to change fromgenerative AI.
Driving roles face the lowest potential exposure to
skills GenAI could reasonably replace or augment,
while software development roles face the highest
potential exposure.
While GenAI can learn to do some tasks reasonably well, it
is unlikely to fully replace many jobs— especially those that
require manual skills and/or deep personal connections.
As the labor market continues to adjust to the rise of
remote work, the higher the odds are that a job can bedone remotely, the greater its potential exposure
is to GenAI.
Many of the jobs most in demand from employers intoday’s tight labor market are among those with the least
potential exposure to GenAI-driven change. A majority (20)of the 25 most common jobs posted on Indeed currently
face a lower potential exposure to GenAI than the average
job posting.

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Indeed’s AI at Work Report

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform themLess than 20% of jobs face a high potential exposure to GenAI
Job postings on Indeed by GenAI exposure share, United States, Aug ‘22 - Jul ‘23

Every job is potentially exposed to some kindto rate its ability—either poor, fair, good, orof change from generative artificial intelligenceexcellent—to perform each skill family, with(GenAI) technology—ranging from a

all skills within a given family assigned thecomparatively low potential exposure in driving

same rating as the family overall. Within alljobs, to a high potential exposure for many techoccupational groups analyzed, there are atjobs. But GenAI is unlikely to fully replace many

least some skill families that GenAI says it canjobs. Instead, as the technology continues toperform excellently.

learn certain skills associated with certain jobs,
it will augment or transform some more thanothers. Ultimately,

Within all
occupations
analyzed,
there are atleast some skill
families that canbe performed
excellently by
GenAI. But that
does not meanit can perform
entire jobs
excellently -far from it.

GenAI is more likely toremain only decent (atbest) at performing
most tasks, rather thantruly masterful, and iscurrently bad at moreskills than it is good at.
But don’t just takeour word for it. When
asked, GenAI reached
the same conclusions
about itself.

But that does not mean it can perform entire
jobs excellently—far from it, in fact. GenAI said

50%

40%

34.6%
30%

it was “excellent” at only four of those 48 skill
families, and “good” at another 16. It rated itself

45.7%

20%

19.8%

as poor or only fair at performing a majority(28) of the 48 total skill families analyzed. Andeven where GenAI does have a strong ability to

10%

do a given job, it is hardly a true expert: GenAI
said it was good or excellent at 80% or moreof all skills in less than a fifth (19.8%) of all job
postings analyzed.
Those one in five jobs in which 80% or moreskills can be done “good” or “excellent” by

0%High exposure

Moderate exposure

Low exposure

Source: Indeed. High: GenAI can perform at least 80% of skills at a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ level.
Moderate: Between 50% and less than 80% of skills. Low: Less than 50% of skills.

GenAI were determined to have the highest
potential exposure to GenAI-driven change.

Starting with a

Jobs in which between 50% and less thanThis research shows that the human element

recipe or translate a menu, but it can’t chop an

universe of more than

80% of skills can be performed good or

required in many critical job skills—including

onion or garnish a dessert. A GenAI nurse can

55 million job postings

excellent were determined to have a moderate

empathy, intuition, and manual dexterity—

help diagnose an illness, but can’t insert an IV

mentioning at least one work skill publishedpotential exposure to GenAI. Jobs in which

remains irreplaceable. GenAI, while adept

or console a worried family. A GenAI software

on Indeed over the past year, we identified

less than half of skills could be done goodat processing data and executing specificdeveloper can write a line of code, but can’t

more than 2,600 individual skills within thoseor excellent were determined to have a low

tasks, lacks the innate human qualities thatplace it within the broader, complex softwarejobs and organized them into 48 skill families.

potential for exposure.

define various roles, especially those centeredarchitecture envisioned by a human developer.

around manual work, human interactions,

There are certain work skills unique to humans

and decision-making based on nuanced

that simply can’t be automated.

We then asked ChatGPT, a leading GenAI tool,

understanding. A GenAI chef can help refine a910

Indeed’s AI at Work Report

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform them

Assessing GenAI’s Proficiency in Skills
Evaluation of skills in Indeed job postings, United States, Aug ‘22 - Jul ‘23

0%

50%

100%

Driving
Beauty & Wellness

Where there’s a skill, there’s a way

Personal Care & Home HealthNursing

Every job is characterized by a mix of individual

Technology skills in particular—ranging fromskills required to do that job, and it is thesethe very broad, such as “computer skills,” toindividual skills that GenAI is learning to

the very specific, such as “java”—are incredibly

perform. However, the exact number of skills

important when considering the future of work

mentioned in a given job posting varies a lot

and the potential for disruption represented by

Production & Manufacturing

across occupations. The average job posting

GenAI. These skills are present to some extent

Installation & Maintenanceon Indeed over the past year mentioned fouracross every occupation category analyzed by

Therapyskills. Job postings for dental, personal care

Indeed (though not necessarily within every& home health, driving, cleaning & sanitation,

posting under that category), and they are

and beauty & wellness roles mentioned theamong the skills that Generative AI is mostfewest individual skills on average (2). Job

poised to transform. On average, roughly one inpostings for tech/software roles mentioned thefive (18.4%) skills mentioned in a typical Indeed

most on average (12). From these skills, Hiring

job posting is a technology skill, and almost

Lab created 48 thematic skill families ranging

40% of the 2,600+ individual skills identified forfrom animal care & handling skills to visual &this analysis fell under the “technology skills”

performing arts skills.

family, one of the 16 skill families at which GenAIChildcare
Food Preparation & Service
Veterinary
Construction
Cleaning & Sanitation

SportsMedical Technician
RetailPharmacy
Physicians & SurgeonsHospitality & Tourism
Community & Social Services
DentalSecurity & Public Safety
Loading & Stocking
Management
Sales

said it was “good.”

Customer Service
Medical Information
Insurance

Where GenAI is good, bad, and in-between

Education & Instruction
Electrical Engineering
Architecture

It is this relative abundance or scarcity of required technology skills—and other skill families which

Civil Engineering

GenAI says it is good (or bad) at performing—that largely helps define the listing of occupations

Arts & Entertainmentthat are most- and least-exposed to potential GenAI-driven change. Broadly, while GenAI is

Scientific Research & Development

relatively good at technical skills (and jobs), it is pretty bad at skills (and jobs) that require intuition,

Administrative
Project Management

reasoning, and/or in-person, manual work.

Industrial Engineering
Logistic Support
Banking & FinanceMarketingMedia & Communications
Human Resources
Accounting
Legal
Information Design & Documentation
Mathematics
IT Operations & Helpdesk
Software Development

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

Source: Indeed.

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How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform themAmong all occupation groups analyzed byBusiness operations skills—which GenAI rates

At the other end of the ranking, software

mentioned in 71% of all software development

Indeed, driving jobs had the lowest potential

itself “good” at—represent 9% of skills in adevelopment occupations had the highest

job postings. Communication skills—which

exposure to skills that GenAI says it can do at

typical driving post, and are mentioned in justpotential exposure to skills GenAI said it can

GenAI rates itself “excellent” at—are mentioned

least reasonably well. GenAI said it was “good”

28% of driving job postings. Communication

do at least reasonably well: GenAI said it wasin almost half (43%) of all software development

or “excellent” at only 29% of all skills specified

skills and language skills, among the four skill“good” or “excellent” at more than 95% of

job postings. GenAI says it is only “fair” atin driving job postings. Almost 60% of all skills

groups that GenAI says it is “excellent” at

all skills specified in software development

engineering skills and leadership skills, which

mentioned in a typical driving occupation(along with math skills and finance skills),

postings. Technology skills represent 82% of

are found in 20% and 12%, respectively, of alljob posting are in the “vehicle operation”

appear in only 18% and 10% of driving job

skills noted in a typical software development

software development job postings—but withskill family—a family in which GenAI rated its

postings, respectively.

post. Business operations skills—which GenAI

each representing just 1% of skills noted in a

rates itself “good” at—represent just 7% of skills

typical posting.

own ability to perform those skills as “poor.”in a typical software developer posting, but are

Top 5 software development occupation
skills and their GenAI Ratings

Top 5 driving occupation skills and their GenAI Ratings
Share of Indeed driving job postings skills,
GenAI Rating (Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent), United States, Aug ‘22 - Jul ‘23

Share of Indeed software development job postings skills,
GenAI Rating (Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent), United States, Aug ‘22 - Jul ‘23

Vehicle Operation Skill

Technology Skill
59%

Business Operation Skill

2%

EXCELLENT

Communication Skill

EXCELLENT

Engineering Skill

5%

1%

EXCELLENTTechnology Skill

FAIR

Leadership Skill

3%

1%

GOOD

Source: Indeed.

GOOD

Communication Skill

6%

13

7%

GOOD

Language Skill

10%

GOOD

Business Operation Skill

9%

0%

82%

POOR

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

0%

FAIR

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Source: Indeed.

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How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform them

Here is what the tool had to say about its own ability to perform retail skills:

These two extremes may be somewhat obvious in terms of potential exposure to GenAI.
For drivers, a large language model of the type that powers many generative AI tools might
be able to plan a route on a map, but GenAI will never be able to turn a steering wheel (thoughother artificial intelligence technologies will). For software developers, however, those models
are likely to be much better at writing an efficient line of code or preparing/summarizing
technical documentation.

Top 5 retail occupation skills and their GenAI Ratings
Share of Indeed retail job postings skills,
GenAI Rating (Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent), United States, Aug ‘22 - Jul ‘23

Business Operation Skill
25%

GOOD

Retail Skill
15%

FAIR

Technology Skill
10%

GOOD

10%

FAIR

Leadership Skill

Communication Skill
8%
0%

5%

10%

EXCELLENT

15%

20%

25%

30%

Source: Indeed.

It’s the jobs that fall somewhere in the middle—including retail—that are arguably the mostinteresting cases to study when trying to determine the potential impact of GenAI on the future ofwork. GenAI said it was “good” or “excellent” at a small majority (57.6%) of all skills specified in retailjob postings. Business operations skills—a family that GenAI says it is “good” at—represent 25%of the skills in a typical retail job posting, and are mentioned in 77% of retail job postings. But after
business skills, the core of retail jobs are retail skills, which are found in 65% of retail job postings
and represent 15% of the skills found in a typical retail posting. GenAI rates itself as only “fair” atretail skills, and it is worth examining its own full explanation for its so-so rating. Essentially,
GenAI says it can help with retail strategy, but cannot perform the person-person skills
necessary for retail success.

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Indeed’s AI at Work Report

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform themRemote jobs are more exposed, common jobs
are less exposed
Additionally, we combined the skills data from this research with Hiring Lab’s Remote & Hybrid
tracker, which analyzes the share of job postings advertising remote work opportunities acrossoccupations. We found that jobs with the least potential exposure to GenAI (including driving,cleaning & sanitation, and beauty & wellness) are also those with the lowest ability to be done
remotely. The higher the odds are that a job can be done remotely, the greater its potential
exposure is to GenAI-driven change. Historically, these are not the kinds of jobs that have been
subject to disruption through automation, more evidence that this round of technologicalevolution will affect different workers in different ways than in the past.

Remote-capable jobs exhibit a higher exposure to GenAI
Occupational groups by GenAI Rating and Remote Potential. United States, Aug ‘22 - Jul ‘23

Good/Excellent GenAI skill share

100%

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT75%

RETAIL

50%

DRIVING

25%
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Remote & Hybrid job posting share
Source: Indeed. Remote & hybrid job-posting share reflects the last month of the one-year timeframe.

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Indeed’s AI at Work Report

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform themHigh-demand jobs least exposed to GenAI change
Top 25 occupations account for 22% of job postings on Indeed,
Evaluation of skills in Indeed job postings, United States, Aug ‘22 - Jul ‘23

0%

50%

100%

Truck Driver
Caregiver
Cook
ServerRegistered Nurse
Licensed Practical Nurse
Nursing AssistantRestaurant Manager
Maintenance Technician
Store Manager
Housekeeper
Shift Manager
Assistant Manager

Because thejobs mostin demandright now arecomparatively
less exposed
to GenAI,
it’s unlikely
today’s tightlabor market
will be quickly
alleviated by
evolving AI
technology.

Assistant Store Manager

Finally, while all jobs do face some potential exposure to GenAI-driven

General Manager

change, the jobs most currently in demand by employers are among the least
exposed. A majority (20) of the 25 most common jobs posted on Indeed—

Delivery Driveraccounting for 22% of all Indeed job postings—currently face a lower

Cashierpotential exposure to GenAI than the average job posting. GenAI rated itself
as poor or fair at 41% of skills mentioned in the average job posting. But inMedical Assistantthese 20 roles, GenAI rates itself as only poor or fair at more than 41% of skills

Retail Sales Associateassociated with those jobs. Because the jobs most in demand right now are

Shift Leader

comparatively less exposed to GenAI-driven change, it’s unlikely that today’stight labor market will be quickly alleviated by evolving AI technology.

Sales Representative

Of these 25 common jobs, truck driver roles currently face the least potential

Technician

exposure to GenAI (GenAI rates itself “good” or “excellent” at

Sales Associate

just 15% of truck driver skills). Of these 25 common jobs, administrative assistantroles currently face the most potential exposure to GenAI (GenAI rates itself

Poor or fair
GenAI rating in the
average job postingon Indeed

Customer Service Representative“good” or “excellent” at roughly 90% of administrative assistant skills).

Administrative Assistant

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

Source: Indeed.

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Indeed’s AI at Work Report

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform them

As the labor market continues toadjust to the rise of remote work,
the higher the odds are that a job
can be done remotely, the greaterits potential exposure is to GenAI.

Conclusion
The findings around the fields most- and least-

How people work will inevitably change as

exposed to potential GenAI-driven change

GenAI gains wider adoption, with GenAI

clearly illustrate the different challenges posed

tools augmenting or replacing certain tasks

by GenAI relative to earlier industrial andand forcing a rethink of some traditionalcommercial automation efforts. Many of thework profiles. The most automatable tasks—

jobs most in demand from employers in today’s

debugging code, documenting work, andtight labor market are among those with theidentifying relevant data for a diagnosis—will

least potential exposure to GenAI-driven

be replaced/supported by GenAI. But aschange. Unlike earlier advances in robotics andwe’ve seen, at its best GenAI is generally

computing that largely impacted and replaced

good but not great at certain tasks, and at its

manual labor, it is knowledge workers who areworst is simply bad. As such, it’s likely that

more likely to be impacted by this evolution

deep, diverse, expert, and uniquely humanin GenAI technology. As the labor market

knowledge will stay in high demand. A person’scontinues to adjust to the rise of remote work,

capacity for on-the-job adaptation and lifelong

the higher the odds are that a job can be done

learning, already critical today, will only become

remotely, the greater its potential exposure

more important tomorrow.

is to GenAI.

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Indeed’s AI at Work Report

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform them

Methodology
This research focused on job skills mentioned

This analysis is focused on identified skills only,in over 55 million Indeed job postings publishedand does not include data on required/desiredin the United States between August 2022 andlicenses, certifications, or academic degrees.

July 2023. Remote & hybrid job posting share

We conducted robustness checks usingreflects data as of the last month of the one-data from rejected candidates on the Indeed

year timeframe. Indeed identified more thanplatform to evaluate the skills mentioned in

2,600 individual skills within those jobs andjob postings. Even when focusing on essential

categorized them into 48 families. Then we

skills that employers require, the results did not

asked ChatGPT-4.0, a leading GenAI tool, toreveal significant differences.

rate its ability in these families, ranging frompoor, fair, and good, to excellent, with each skill
within a given skill family assigned the samerating as the family overall. GenAI’s impact
was summarized into three exposure levels:
low, moderate, and high, providing insights
into its proficiency across various skills in thejob market.
Jobs in which 80% or more skills can bedone “good” or “excellent” by GenAI were
determined to have the highest potential
exposure to GenAI-driven change. Jobs inwhich between 50% and less than 80% of skills
can be performed good or excellent were
determined to have a moderate potential
exposure to GenAI. Jobs in which less than halfof skills could be done good or excellent were
determined to have a low potential
for exposure.

23

Many iterations of the conversation prompt
with ChatGPT were used to properly calibrate
expectations and realistic skill assessments.
Researchers conducted approximately 20“interviews” with ChatGPT to create the final
prompt. For a more detailed explanation of ourapproach, data used and findings, please see
our full methodology post here.

Indeed’s AI at Work Report

How GenAI will impact jobs and the skills needed to perform them