Women make up only 26% of new AI job hires despite industry boom

LinkedIn data reveals a stark gender disparity in the booming artificial intelligence sector, with women securing only 26% of new U.S. AI hires in 2025 compared to 50% in non-AI fields. While high-paying technical roles like "member of technical staff" ($223,000 median pay) are dominated by men at 82%, women are concentrated in lower-paying roles like data annotation ($51,000). Experts warn this trend exacerbates historical tech industry inequalities, limiting women's long-term economic mobility and leadership in a rapidly evolving job market.

Gender disparity in AI hiring

• ▪Sarah Steinberg, head of global public policy partnerships at LinkedIn, stated that while women may be included in the artificial intelligence economy, they are often excluded from roles driving long-term economic mobility.
• ▪According to LinkedIn data released on August 18, 2026, women accounted for 26% of new hires for artificial intelligence roles in the United States in 2025, while men accounted for 74%.
• ▪In contrast to artificial intelligence roles, women made up approximately half of all new hires in non-artificial intelligence occupations in the United States in 2025.
• ▪The technical role of 'member of technical staff' in artificial intelligence labs saw 82% of its new hires go to men in 2025.

AI job market growth

• ▪ZipRecruiter data shows that 13% of surveyed employers require artificial intelligence skills company-wide rather than only in technical roles.
• ▪Economists note that artificial intelligence is changing the nature of work by consolidating roles and raising expectations around speed and self-sufficiency rather than causing mass job displacement.
• ▪A Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research analysis showed that the unemployment rate for the 20% of workers most exposed to artificial intelligence rose by 0.77 percentage points since 2022.
• ▪A ZipRecruiter employer survey found that 74% of employers consider artificial intelligence skills a strong advantage or requirement for job candidates.

Pay gap across AI roles

• ▪The highly paid 'member of technical staff' role in artificial intelligence labs had a median listed pay of $223,000 in 2026.
• ▪LinkedIn data indicates that the highest-paying artificial intelligence roles typically have higher percentages of male hires.
• ▪The data annotator job, which is roughly split 50/50 between men and women, had a median listed pay of $51,000 in 2026.

Tech industry representation patterns

• ▪Women have historically been underrepresented in the technology industry, particularly in leadership and technical roles, a divide that the artificial intelligence boom is widening.
• ▪Most of the public faces of the artificial intelligence buildout have been men, reflecting long-standing gender representation patterns in the technology sector.
• ▪Paul Osterman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology stated that approximately 35% of the United States workforce is considered easily replaceable, a vulnerability that artificial intelligence could exacerbate.