Public anxiety about artificial intelligence eliminating jobs is running high, but the labor market tells a different story. According to a Pew Research Center survey of 3,488 adults published in August 2026, 71 percent of Americans expect AI to reduce jobs over the next 20 years, while only 5 percent expect it to create more. The data on actual hiring, however, points in the opposite direction. PwC's 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer shows that jobs requiring AI skills grew 69 percent over the past year, compared with 9 percent growth for the overall job market.
The imbalance between supply and demand is stark. Global demand for AI-capable software engineers outpaces supply 3.2 to 1, leaving an estimated 1.6 million positions unfilled. That gap, not displacement, is the real crisis, according to Acendeo, a US-incorporated nearshore IT staff augmentation company. "Companies read the AI headlines and conclude they need fewer engineers," said Brad Webb, co-founder of Acendeo. "What they actually need is engineers who can get real work out of these tools. There are far fewer of those than there are open roles."
The shortage is also driving up pay. PwC's report put the wage premium for AI-skilled workers at 62 percent, up from 57 percent one year earlier. Meanwhile, the fastest growth in AI training is not happening in the United States. Generative AI enrollments across Latin America rose 425 percent, the steepest jump of any region, according to Coursera's 2025 Global Skills Report. "Every company tells me they cannot find these people," said Nelso Villamizar, Vice President of Strategic Operations at Acendeo. "The people exist. They are just not in the country where those companies are looking."
The urgency is reinforced by job posting data. LinkedIn ranked AI Engineer as the top-growing US job title in 2026, with postings up 143 percent year over year. Acendeo aims to close that gap by recruiting AI engineers, data engineers, and scientists across Latin America and placing them within US engineering teams. These engineers work on the client's stack during US business hours. After a client describes the role, Acendeo presents pre-vetted candidates in 10 business days. For companies struggling to staff AI initiatives, Acendeo offers a detailed solution at https://acendeo.com/solution/ai-engineer.
The implications extend beyond individual employers. If the AI skills shortage persists, it could slow adoption of productivity-enhancing tools across the US economy, even as public debate remains focused on job losses that the current data do not show. Acendeo's model suggests that the fastest fix may be looking beyond domestic borders to a Latin American talent pool that is already training at record rates.
