What Happens When Human Skills Outpace Job Design?
AI’s rapid evolution is creating new efficiencies and new questions about how work gets done, what we value, and who gets rewarded. In People Management’s latest feature, HR strategist and executive coach Gemma Bullivant responds to concerns that AI could drive down salaries in senior roles by reshaping the skills landscape.
As Gemma explains, the impact on pay structures and hierarchies will depend less on the tech itself and more on how intentionally businesses redesign roles.
“AI’s impact on pay structures and job hierarchies will largely depend on how intentional businesses are about redesigning roles,” she says.
“The net result might be fewer roles in the organisation due to efficiency gains – but I’m not convinced this will come from the removal of an entire layer of the structure. I think the streamlining of headcount that many talk about will be as a result of creating roles that combine machine support with a new breed of ‘human’ skills such as data interpretation, AI fluency and cross-functional thinking.”
She adds that HR has a pivotal role in shaping this evolution.
“Job evaluation frameworks must evolve to keep pace. That means recognising this new breed of skills as core competencies, not specialisms. Equally, reward strategies need to reflect the growing emphasis on adaptability and trust in human–AI collaboration, rather than relying on traditional experience or tenure.”
Read the full article in People Management
Gemma’s Advice to HR Teams is ‘Redesign Work Before It Redesigns You’
This isn’t just about restructuring or pay. It’s about reshaping the fundamentals of how we think about work from job architecture to skills strategy. Done well, it’s an opportunity to build fairer, more future ready organisations. Left too late, we risk letting the tech lead the way, instead of the people.
HR leaders should take a proactive role to:
- Redesign jobs to reflect AI collaboration
- Evolve job evaluation frameworks to include human–AI competencies
- Shape reward strategies that prioritise adaptability over tenure
If this topic resonates, two recent episodes of The Strategic Leader podcast dive even deeper.
Episode 5: The Skills We’ll Need in 2030
What does it really mean to be “future ready”? We explore the capabilities that will matter most in the years ahead and what HR teams can do today to start building them.
Episode 4: How HR Can Lead the AI Revolution
AI is reshaping roles, processes and expectations, but it’s people who will determine whether it sticks. This episode unpacks the mindset, governance and culture shifts HR needs to lead with confidence.
Together, these episodes offer practical, grounded insight into the role HR must play in shaping how AI is adopted across organisations – from mindset to governance to people first implementation.
