Pnet Report Shows South African Women Growing AI Skills

In Short

Pnet data suggests more South African women are adding AI skills to their professional profiles. The share rose over three years, and women appear to be early adopters of several generative AI tools.

What Happened

Pnet released its August 2026 Job Market Trends Report, based on analysis of about 1.5 million South African jobseeker profiles.

The report found women’s representation among professionals listing AI skills increased from 25% to 32% over the past three years. In simple terms, more women are now publicly signalling AI capability on their CVs and online profiles, which can influence who gets shortlisted.

It also highlights stronger uptake of some generative AI tools, which are systems that can create text or images from prompts, similar to a fast autocomplete that can draft whole documents. In some categories, women led adoption. For example, women represented 60% of candidates who listed ChatGPT as a skill, along with strong presence in design-focused AI tools.

Why It Matters

Hiring teams increasingly use keyword searches and applicant tracking systems, which are tools that scan CVs for relevant skills, to filter candidates. If more jobseekers list AI and GenAI skills, it can shift who is visible for roles in marketing, design, customer support, product, and data work.

For employers, the report is a signal that AI literacy is spreading beyond technical roles. This can speed up day-to-day automation, like summarising documents, generating first drafts, or creating design variations.

For workers and training providers, the trend points to a growing expectation that AI tools will be part of normal workplace software. The next question is whether this self-reported AI usage translates into better job outcomes, higher pay, and more women moving into advanced AI roles, not just tool usage.