March 2026 Study
We analysed 1,019 non-technical UK job listings from LinkedIn. Here's what we found about what employers are asking for right now.
83
out of 1,019 jobs
mentioned AI
2.6%
listed AI as
a requirement
7.5x
more mentions of
traditional tools vs AI
We looked at over 1,000 UK job listings for the kinds of roles that keep businesses running: accountants, office managers, HR coordinators, sales admins, marketing execs, PAs, legal assistants, and customer service reps. Not tech roles. Everyday office jobs.
Then we analysed every description for 65 AI-related terms. Everything from specific tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude, to broader language like "artificial intelligence," "machine learning," and "generative AI."
The result: 91.9% of these listings made zero reference to AI. No tools, no terminology, nothing. And of the 83 that did mention AI, more than half were just a passing reference often describing the employer's product rather than a skill they expected from the candidate.
% of 1,019 listings mentioning each category
"Microsoft Teams appeared in 44% of all listings. ChatGPT appeared in 0.6%. Excel showed up in nearly 1 in 4 job ads. The most popular AI tool showed up in 6 out of 1,019."
Not all AI mentions are equal. We classified each mention by how the job description framed it.
| Level | Jobs | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Required ("must have," "essential") | 26 | 2.6% |
| Preferred ("desirable," "advantage") | 7 | 0.7% |
| Mentioned (in passing only) | 50 | 4.9% |
| No AI reference | 936 | 91.9% |
When you strip back to jobs that require AI skills: 26 out of 1,019. That's 1 in 39 listings.
% of listings in each sector that mention AI
Marketing leads at 16%, but even there, 84% of listings made no mention of AI at all.
% of listings at each seniority level that mention AI (levels with <10 listings excluded)
Named AI tools appearing in job descriptions
For context, Excel appeared in 243 listings. The most popular AI tool appeared in 6. That's the gap we're working with.
Broader AI phrases found across all 83 AI-positive listings.
| Term / Phrase | Mentions |
|---|---|
| Artificial intelligence | 23 |
| AI tools | 21 |
| AI-driven | 17 |
| Machine learning | 7 |
| Automation tools | 6 |
| AI-enabled | 4 |
| Data science | 4 |
| AI-assisted | 4 |
| AI-powered | 3 |
| Workflow automation | 3 |
For comparison — the most frequently mentioned non-AI tools.
The complete dataset, methodology, and analysis are available for download.
LinkedIn public job listings, United Kingdom, scraped March 2026 via the Apify platform.
1,019 unique job listings after deduplication by LinkedIn job ID. Over 100 distinct search queries targeting non-technical office and administrative roles across finance, HR, marketing, sales, customer service, legal, operations, and general administration.
Each job description was scanned for 65 terms across two categories: 34 named AI tools and platforms (ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, Midjourney, etc.) and 31 broader AI terms (artificial intelligence, machine learning, generative AI, prompt engineering, etc.). All matching used word-boundary regular expressions to prevent partial matches. All positive matches were manually verified.
AI-positive listings were further classified as "required," "preferred," or "mentioned" based on proximity of the AI term to requirement language within 200 characters.
The sample is not a random probability sample of all UK job listings. LinkedIn's public search returns a limited number of results per query. The study captures only explicit mentions of AI in job descriptions. Employers may value AI skills without stating them. Some mentions may refer to the employer's product rather than a skill required of the candidate.
This research was conducted by Eliot Prince. For media enquiries, access to the full dataset, or to speak with Eliot, contact: eliot@eliotprince.com