The ai pay gap just got measured. comptia counts 625,633 active it job postings, a three-year high,…
the ai pay gap just got measured. comptia counts 625,633 active it job postings, a three-year high, with ai skills pulling an 18 to 62 percent pay premium while entry-level hiring stays the weakest.
the market rewards knowing, not learning.
Context
CompTIA's analysis, published October 2, counts 625,633 active IT job postings in September, the highest total in more than three years, with 272,040 new openings. New postings rose 16% and active postings 22.4% against September 2025.
Work Insiders, citing CompTIA, puts the AI skills pay premium at 18% to 62% and says entry-level hiring remains the weakest spot. IQ Clarity says nearly 350,000 active postings reference AI-related skills.
The 625,633 figure, the three-year high, the 18 to 62 percent premium and weak entry-level hiring match the coverage. The premium range comes from a secondary summary, not the CompTIA release highlights read here.
'The market rewards knowing, not learning' is the author's opinion.
Related work
- CompTIA release via KJAS ↗The CompTIA press release.
- IQ Clarity: Tech Hiring Report ↗AI-related postings.
- Work Insiders ↗Pay premium and layoffs context.
Watch next
- Read the CompTIA release for how the AI premium is measured.
Sources
- CompTIA via StreetInsider, Oct 2, 2026streetinsider.com
- IQ Clarity, Oct 5, 2026iqclarity.com
- Work Insiders, Oct 8, 2026workinsiders.com
Provenance
The note above is reproduced unedited from the original post, first published on Threads on 10 October 2026 at 03:54 IST. Sources are the papers and datasets the note draws on.
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