The AI boom in the U.S. labor market apparently has not created opportunities equally for all groups.
New LinkedIn data shows that in 2025 women made up only 26 percent of new hires in AI-related jobs; by contrast, men accounted for 74 percent of those hires.
According to ETTNA, in jobs unrelated to AI, women’s share of new hires was about 50 percent.
This gap matters more because AI-related jobs are among the fastest-growing segments of the labor market and many of them pay high wages. Therefore, the low share of women in this sector could mean missing out on part of the economic opportunities from the AI wave-at a time when overall U.S. labor market growth is not particularly strong.
AI: a labor market growing faster than other sectors
LinkedIn’s data is not the only sign of rising demand for AI skills. PwC’s Global AI Jobs Barometer 2026 report also shows that hiring of AI specialists increased markedly worldwide in 2025.
In the U.S., the number of job postings requiring AI-related skills reached about 1.12 million in 2025; a figure that represents a 66 percent increase from the previous year.
PwC also says hiring of AI specialists grew about eight times faster globally in 2025 than hiring across all jobs. This trend indicates that AI skills are becoming one of the key determinants of job opportunities in the digital economy.
A new gap, a continuation of an old problem
Of course, low female representation in AI jobs is not an entirely new issue. For years women have had lower shares in parts of the tech industry, especially in technical roles and managerial positions. But the rapid growth of the AI industry has made this gap economically more significant now.
According to the report, AI jobs still make up only a small portion of the total labor market; however, their growth rate and wage levels mean that a low share of women in this sector could have important long-term consequences.
According to AXIOS, this aligns with previous research on AI’s impact on women’s working lives. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has previously warned that technologies used in job search, recruitment advertising, and AI-based hiring systems can, if poorly designed, exacerbate existing gender gaps in the labor market.
Why does this gap matter?
The issue goes beyond today’s hiring numbers. If AI becomes one of the foundational technologies of the economy, experience and skills related to it could play an increasing role in determining income levels, career progression, and access to future managerial positions.
In such circumstances, low female presence in AI roles can create a gap that in coming years could extend into managerial and technology decision-making domains. Therefore, the issue is not only increasing the number of women on technical teams; their participation in shaping products that will affect the lives and work of millions of people also matters.
Overall, the new data shows the AI boom has not yet been distributed equally between women and men. While AI is becoming one of the main engines of job and economic opportunity growth, women currently hold a much smaller share of new hires in this field; a trend that could reproduce the tech industry’s longstanding gender gap in one of the most important technologies of the next decade.