Tech Workers Spend 5–20 Hours Weekly on AI Skills as Demand for AI Engineers Rises

U.S. hotels and negotiate room rates one night after work in Dublin. Sharma, a 24-year-old software engineer at a Big Tech company, spends about 20 hours a week outside work experimenting with tools including Cursor, which he pays for himself.

"I think experimentation with AI is very important," Sharma said. " He said AI has let him finish some tasks in days instead of months. U.S. desk workers across six industries conducted last year found that 85 percent were learning how to use AI outside of work.

Insider reported that hiring for AI engineers on LinkedIn has risen since 2022, while hiring for many traditional engineering roles has stayed flat or declined. Tanvi Pisal, 29, began worrying that AI could replace her job in early 2025 while working as a product designer at an AI healthcare startup in San Jose.

She was laid off last October; an email accompanying the cuts said they were tied to the company's rapid adoption of AI.

Pisal now works as a UX design contractor for a Big Tech company and spends 10 to 15 hours a week outside work learning AI tools and attending workshops. She has spent hundreds of dollars on subscriptions to ChatGPT and Claude. "If I don't spend a few hours over the weekend catching up on updates, experimenting with tools, or reading about what's new, I start falling behind," Pisal said.

Manoj Aggarwal, a lead engineer at a large software company, spends a couple of hours a week outside work on AI tools and about $60 a month on subscriptions. His employer provides access to many of the latest tools, so much of his reading and testing occurs after his young daughter falls asleep.

Udit Mehrotra, head of product at Amazon and in his 30s, lives in Seattle and spends five to seven hours a week outside work experimenting with AI.