Job postings in the artificial intelligence industry have more than doubled over the past five years, even as the overall hiring market remains frozen.
Job postings containing the keyword "AI" increased 112% in the first quarter of this year compared to five years ago, according to data released Monday by Jobkorea, an HR tech company. Entry-level positions saw an even sharper rise of 162% over the same period.
By region, the capital area and non-capital regions recorded growth rates of 110% and 232%, respectively. The data suggests AI hiring demand is spreading nationwide beyond specific regions.
Since the introduction of generative AI, hiring of AI talent has been increasing regardless of job category. Five years ago, recruitment focused on traditional development roles such as service development and infrastructure building, with AI talent demand limited to certain R&D organizations. However, since generative AI emerged in 2022, companies have been hiring AI talent across all job categories to enhance service competitiveness and work productivity.
By specific position, "AI service developer" postings accounted for the largest share at 18.1% of the total, followed by AI and machine learning engineers (17.9%), data scientists (17.4%), AI planners (13.8%), data analysts (10.4%), and data engineers (10.4%). The scope is expanding beyond data and development roles to include planning and service design.
Applications to Jobkorea's "AI Jobs" service increased 36% month-on-month as of March this year. The service aggregates AI-focused job postings and provides industry trend and career insight content. The surge in job-seeking activity is attributed to the recruitment season coinciding with Jobkorea's AI-focused main page redesign and enhanced "Recommendation 3.0" features.
"AI is becoming a fundamental capability across all industries, not just specific sectors, and this change in the hiring market is evident in the data," said Kim Yo-seop, Chief Technology Officer of Jobkorea. "Jobkorea will lead the industry in transforming the hiring paradigm around AI, including building an integrated AI ecosystem."
