Gap in AI skills and workplace access grows for women, baby boomers, and Gen Xers

The news: The generational and gender gaps for AI skills in the workplace are widening.

• Only 29% of AI-skilled workers are women, per Randstad.
• AI training opportunities are given to just 22% of baby boomers and 28% of Gen Xers, compared with 45% of Gen Zers and 43% of millennials.

Gender imbalance: As workplace AI adoption grows, women are less likely to be offered access to the tech by their employers and are less confident in their AI training.

• Access to AI for job-related tasks remains limited, but the gender gap is still evident: Just over one-third (35%) of women and two-fifths of men (41%) have been offered access to AI in their roles.
• Women are also 14.3% less likely than men to feel confident that their AI training has adequately prepared them to use it in their careers.

Training through the ages: Gen Z leads in AI skill acquisition, with 292% YoY growth in 2024, per Randstad.

However, training opportunities aren’t equally given across age groups.

• Forty-four percent of Gen Zers and millennials in the US think their employer has given them enough training to use AI at work, compared with only 24% of baby boomers and Gen Xers.
• Lack of training opportunities is compounded for women with longer careers: Women comprise just 21% of the AI talent pool for workers with more than 30 years of experience.

No time for a divide: Amid these access and equity gaps, demand for AI talent is skyrocketing, giving employers more incentive to prioritize diverse skill development.

• There were 16,591 new AI job postings in November—up 59% from January 2024, per LinkUp.
• While 75% of companies are adopting AI, only 35% of employees have received training, per Randstad.

Sixty-four percent of CEOs say AI success depends more on adoption than the tech itself, per IBM.

Our take: AI is becoming a constant expectation for employees and a high-demand skill for new hires, and these widening gender and generational gaps could limit career progress for some workers.

Upskilling workers could increase morale, maximize the impact of companies’ AI initiatives, reduce hiring redundancies, and ensure all team members can contribute to new programs and feel more confident in their careers.

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