AI skill demand spreads beyond engineering in hiring data

Hire With Near says AI requirements rose across nearly every department in 2,100 job postings from June 2025 to June 2026, with finance seeing the sharpest jump. The shift suggests companies are now screening for AI fluency in roles from accounting to sales, not just software jobs.

Why it matters: - AI hiring expectations are moving into mainstream business roles, not staying confined to engineering. - The change affects how employers screen candidates in finance, marketing, sales and accounting. - The data suggests AI fluency is becoming a baseline workplace skill for knowledge workers.

What happened: - Hire With Near released an analysis of 2,100 job postings covering June 2025 through June 2026. - The firm found AI skill requirements increased across nearly every department it tracked. - The sharpest rise came in accounting and finance roles, where the share of postings asking for AI skills doubled from 8% to 16%. - Engineering postings rose from 32% to 42%. - Marketing postings rose from 23% to 33%. - Sales postings rose from 11% to 17%. - Across all roles combined, AI requirements increased from about 18% to 21%.

The details: - Hire With Near said it separated AI demand from routine automation language in job postings. - General automation language declined from 16% of roles to 13% over the same period. - The company said the growth is coming from specific AI skills and tools rather than recycled automation wording. - Mentions of Claude, Copilot and Gemini more than doubled from 2% of all roles to nearly 5%. - Mentions of ChatGPT stayed roughly flat at around 4%. - The company framed those assistant-tool mentions as an early signal, not a mass-market shift. - Hire With Near also said the pattern reflects how AI is entering everyday knowledge work and how employers are screening for familiarity with the tools and workflows already in use. - The firm’s work focuses on helping U.S. companies hire remote talent in Latin America.

Between the lines: - The hiring signal is less about replacing workers and more about raising the bar for judgment and tool use. - Employers appear to want candidates who know when to use AI, when to avoid it, and how to verify outputs. - That creates pressure on candidates in nontechnical roles to show practical AI competence, not just general office experience. - The shift also suggests that AI skills may now function as a cross-departmental hiring filter.

What's next: - Hire With Near said the trend will continue as companies expect AI skills to match changing job requirements. - The firm is highlighting the findings on its blog in a post titled More on how AI is changing hiring across departments. - Employers hiring in Latin America and the U.S. are likely to keep asking for AI familiarity in more roles if this pattern holds. - Candidates seeking finance, marketing and sales jobs may need to show direct experience with AI tools and workflows.

The bottom line: - AI hiring requirements are broadening fast, and finance is now the clearest signal that the demand is no longer just an engineering story.