Most organizations are updating roles to require artificial intelligence skills, but more than half are not offering additional pay for workers who have them, according to Payscale’s 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report.
The annual report, based on 3,413 survey responses collected between October and December 2025, found 61 per cent of organizations have updated existing roles to include AI-related skills or competencies. Yet 55 per cent say they are offering no premiums, bonuses or equity to employees who have built out those skills.
AI skills expected but not rewarded
The data shows a widening gap between what employers require and what they pay for. Only 14 per cent of organizations offer higher base pay for AI proficiency, 10 per cent offer bonuses, and nine per cent offer long-term incentives.
At the same time, companies are rewriting job descriptions to require AI competencies — 31 per cent in IT roles, 20 per cent in non-IT roles, and 10 per cent in leadership positions. Forty-two per cent of organizations have added new AI-specific roles, and 30 per cent say they are already replacing roles with AI or seriously considering it.
Tight budgets, anxious workers
A slower labour market is adding to worker uncertainty. The report found voluntary turnover hit just eight per cent last year, one of the lowest rates on record, and only 43 per cent of organizations say they hired actively in 2025. Some employers pulled back on pay: five per cent lowered wages for current employees, 11 per cent reduced salary offers, and 16 per cent reduced pay increases.
Forty per cent of organizations say misinformation from unverified salary sources is driving unfair pay perceptions among workers. Fifty-one per cent of organizations cite balancing employee pay expectations with financial limits as their top challenge.
Pay transparency on the rise
Organizations are responding to worker anxiety by increasing openness about pay. Forty-nine per cent say they are targeting organization-wide or public pay transparency in 2026, up from about one-third the previous year.
The report also found 44 per cent of organizations are giving or considering uniform pay increases across all employees, regardless of performance — an approach sometimes called “peanut butter” pay because it spreads increases evenly.
Compensation moving to the executive table
Senior leaders are paying closer attention to pay strategy. Sixty-eight per cent of organizations say their executives view compensation as a strategic lever, and 75 per cent say executives ask to see compensation reporting either occasionally or frequently.
“Compensation in 2026 is being reshaped by shrinking budgets, a cooling labor market, and the accelerating influence of AI, creating sharper divergences in how organizations approach pay,” said Ruth Thomas, chief compensation strategist at Payscale. “Organizations that will thrive long-term treat compensation as a strategic lever by embracing more dynamic cycles, a commitment to pay equity and pay transparency, and tools that elevate human judgment.”
Payscale chief people officer Lexi Clarke added: “When leaders have confidence in their pay practices, they can champion decisions that drive performance, strengthen culture, and create a lasting competitive advantage. The organizations that are successful will turn compensation intelligence into meaningful business impact.”
