Over 50% of UK AI Jobs Could Go Unfilled Within Two Years

The UK is on course to face a shortage of more than 160,000 artificial intelligence professionals by 2028, according to new research from talent solutions firm Robert Walters and global work payments platform Native Teams.

The analysis indicates that demand for AI talent in the UK could approach 300,000 professionals within the next two years, while the domestic workforce is expected to reach only around 137,000 qualified workers. The widening gap is expected to create significant challenges for organisations investing in AI technologies and automation.

Researchers suggest that international hiring could play a key role in helping businesses bridge the talent gap, with the potential to support productivity growth of between 0.5 and 1.5 percentage points annually.

Phill Brown, Global Head of Market Intelligence at Robert Walters, says, “The scale of projected demand for AI talent is expected to significantly outpace domestic supply growth in many advanced economies, including the UK.

“Historically, major advances in technology only translated into meaningful productivity growth once organisations had the workforce capability to implement them at scale. The same dynamic is now emerging with AI, where access to experienced talent will play a defining role in how quickly businesses can convert investment into measurable economic output.”

Businesses across the UK are continuing to accelerate investment in AI-driven tools and automation in an effort to improve efficiency, streamline operations and remain competitive. However, a lack of experienced professionals is increasingly becoming a barrier to implementation, prompting many employers to expand recruitment efforts beyond domestic labour markets.

Jack Thorogood, Founder and CEO of Native Teams, says international recruitment could help organisations overcome those constraints and deploy AI initiatives more effectively.

“Expanding AI hiring outside of domestic labour markets could help lift UK productivity growth by between 0.5 and 1.5 percentage points annually, by helping organisations scale AI capability more quickly and reduce deployment delays linked to talent shortages”, comments Jack Thorogood, Founder and CEO of Native Teams. “Many businesses in the UK are already investing in AI, but access to experienced talent is one of the main constraints on how quickly those systems can be implemented operationally.

“At the same time, companies are becoming far more comfortable building globally distributed AI teams. The supporting infrastructure behind it (global payroll, work payments, and compliance systems) has widely matured over the past few years, making global hiring far more practical at scale.

“Organisations are now able to access critical AI capability more quickly and respond faster to changing technology demands, while also creating greater access to worldwide opportunities for professionals.”

The findings are part of a wider report examining how international hiring corridors are reshaping workforce planning, compensation strategies and access to specialist skills across global markets.

The report argues that while strengthening domestic talent pipelines remains essential, businesses that successfully combine local workforce development with access to international expertise will be best positioned to benefit from the rapid adoption of AI technologies over the coming decade.

Phill adds, “For the UK, strengthening domestic skills pipelines will remain critical, but access to global expertise is also becoming an increasingly important part of how businesses scale capability and stay competitive.”