A new workplace survey says AI is making skilled people harder to find, not easier to replace — good news for workers with the right skills, bad news for companies trying to hire them.

• 61% of senior executives in Asia-Pacific expect their headcount to keep growing, not shrink.
• For the first time in 15 years of this survey, a shortage of skills beats budget limits as the biggest obstacle to going digital.
• Asia-Pacific has it worst: 42% call the AI skills gap their main brake on change, the highest anywhere.
• Almost half expect a retraining wave over the next three to five years, which will squeeze the talent pool even harder.
• Companies furthest along with AI are spending more on physical offices, not less — the opposite of what most people assume.

Outlook: Expect a scramble for AI retraining and rising pay for scarce skills, while firms juggle bigger tech budgets against security worries.