How AI Shapes Recruitment and IT Team Culture

recruteria
Sep 23
3 min read

In the past 10 years, I’ve gone through many waves of change in tech recruitment. From outsourcing to remote work, from the startup boom to waves of restructuring, each stage has brought a different dynamic to the job market. Today, however, the spotlight is on AI and its real impact – not only on roles but also on teams, organizational culture, and even the way candidates think about their careers.

This topic caught my attention, so I gathered information from several trusted sources that studied and measured these changes, to also have an official perspective on the matter. What I found surprised me:

For example, the PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer 2025 shows that nearly 40% of jobs exposed to AI pay more to candidates who are open to developing AI skills. This shows that financial opportunities are strongly tied to the willingness to learn and evolve in this direction.
The McKinsey Global Institute (a think tank that analyzes the economic and social impact of technology) indicates that between 75 and 375 million roles globally will require reskilling by 2030 – that’s just five years away!
Several academic studies from the UK, USA, and Australia also show that demand is shifting toward creativity and collaboration skills, but most importantly, as you might expect, adaptability will be crucial in navigating all these changes.

The Roles Most Exposed to AI

The numbers confirm what I hear daily in interviews:

Repetitive support jobs, manual QA, standard infrastructure administration, and basic data analysis are the most vulnerable.
At the same time, roles in software architecture, security, and product management are gaining in importance.

From my discussions with manual testers, for example, many feel their roles are being “thinned out.” Some of them choose to take courses in automation or AI prompt engineering, aware that this can increase both their salary and relevance. System administrators notice that part of their work is being taken over by intelligent monitoring tools, and their openness to AI makes the difference in their career opportunities.

How Team Dynamics Are Changing

When companies decide to “optimize” through AI, the impact is not only on costs but also on people:

Redistribution of work: repetitive tasks disappear, but new responsibilities arise – who validates the AI output, who integrates it into processes?
Team morale: I’ve met candidates who left not because they lost their job, but because they no longer felt stability or transparency in the company. Those willing to learn and adopt AI, however, feel more secure and relevant.
Organizational culture: companies that communicate openly about how and why they use AI maintain trust, while those that only “cut costs” quickly lose loyalty.
Innovation: as one CTO recently told me, “AI helps my team deliver faster, but without creative and engaged people, I risk having execution without direction.”

Candidates’ Perspective

What I hear more and more often in conversations:

Stability no longer means a 10-year job. Many candidates now define it as “my ability to quickly find another job if something changes.” Those investing in AI skills feel more secure and better protected.
Questions about AI are recurring: “How do you use AI in the company? What role does the human still play?” are becoming standard interview questions.
Between fear and excitement: a QA worried that “their job will disappear,” and on the same day, a developer excited that ChatGPT shortened their coding time by 30%. Openness to AI is clearly becoming the factor that separates anxiety from opportunity.

Data and Stories Together

Beyond graphs and percentages, the truth comes out in conversations with people: in their hesitations, in their upskilling plans, in how teams renegotiate their roles. Those who adapt and learn AI see greater chances for growth and fewer reasons to worry.

What We Learn from All These Changes

As a recruiter, I have the privilege of seeing diverse stories, not just from a single company. And what emerges is that AI doesn’t simply replace jobs – it reconfigures teams, shapes culture, and raises questions about what stability and loyalty in the workplace truly mean.

The open question remains: how much do we gain in the short term through reduced costs, and how much do we risk losing in culture and innovation in the long term? On an optimistic note, openness to AI may be the key that makes the difference between fear and opportunity.