Cash premiums for skills such as AI chatbot app developer and large language model (LLM) tuning are paid out separately from salaries so that as needs are met and the value of those talents declines, the payouts can be reduced or eliminated.
“Perhaps the main difference with skills pay is, unlike a bonus, skills pay premiums are typically paid out at every pay period — same as salary — instead of a lump sum at the end of year, which is more common with bonuses,” Foote said.
In addition, more than a dozen AI-related certifications “are showing real market value strength,” he said. Those skills include prompt engineering, neural networks, AI engineer, AI scientist, and AI model optimization.
According to Foote, a Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist earns the highest pay premium, ranging 8% to 12%, with the average being 10% of base salary equivalent,. The next highest cash pay premium in this cluster is for a Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate, who can earn 9% of base equivalent in skills premium pay.
Averaging 8% of base salary equivalent in skills pay premium are: SAS Certified Professional: AI and Machine Learning; IBM Certified Specialist — AI Enterprise Workflow V1; Artificial Intelligence Engineer (AIE – all tracks); and Google Professional Machine Learning Engineer certifications.
“We’ve been tracking some of these AI-related skills for many years, updating every 90 days,” Foote said. “Others have been recently added. So, given all the volatility in the marketplace for skills cash pay premiums, there have been remarkable changes over time ,including most recently.”
