Are AI skills more important than a degree? New report suggests UK firms are leading the push to hire workers with new abilities

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• UK firms lead the way in hiring AI specialists and investing in training for existing workers

• One in two prefer vendor certifications over traditional university degrees

• Recruiters are struggling to find tech professionals with communication skills

Two in five (42%) UK companies are now hiring dedicated AI governance specialists, according to a new Randstad study, putting the nation ahead of the global average (31%), implying that the UK could well be leading the way when it comes to responsible AI.

Randstad says the findings are evidence that UK businesses are increasingly recognizing the need for dedicated AI oversight, rather than just lumping the new and evolving tech on existing IT teams.

But it doesn’t stop there, because British firms (62%) are also ahead of the global average (54%) when it comes to investing in AI compliance and safety training for their existing workers, too.

UK orgs recognize the importance of dedicated AI skills

But at the same time, we’re also seeing a major shift in the qualities employers are looking for, with very nearly half (49%) of them prioritizing micro-credentials and vendor certifications that prove a level of competency over traditional university degrees.

This shift in attitude comes against a backdrop of ongoing recruitment challenges, with companies struggling not only to recruit the right talent, but enough of it – ads for junior roles require AI skills have reportedly climbed 6.5x compared with early 2022.

Despite a clear rise in the importance of having dedicated AI skills, that’s not to say that traditional qualities have been thrown out of the window. Two in three (64%) recruiters now say it’s harder to find tech professionals with strong communication skills than coding skills.

“While technical certifications and practical experience are becoming increasingly valuable, human skills such as communication and stakeholder management remain critical,” Randstad Digital UK MD Sanjeev Kaul said.

Kaul also highlighted the UK’s unique position in “preparing their workforces for the shift” by investing in existing workers and new recruits simultaneously, but the data shows plenty more organizations could follow suit to keep up with competition.