The Future of Jobs 2025 WEF

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Your job might not exist in 5 years. But here's what will: your ability to adapt, create, and stay human. New episode explores the real future of work. 💼✨

More than half the workforce needs retraining or upskilling. Essentially, yes. The good news is that employers seem to recognize this. 85% say they plan to prioritize upskilling their current workforce. That's a firm commitment. So, if you're listening and your employer isn't discussing upskilling... It may be time to start that conversation.

Future of Jobs Report 2025: The jobs of the future – and the skills you need to get them

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Transcript

0:25

Have you ever felt like the world of work is just, well, spinning? Yeah. Every headline seems to scream about AI, economic shifts, new skill demands. It can honestly feel pretty overwhelming, right? Oh, absolutely. It's a feeling a lot of people share. There's so much information flying around. It's hard to know what actually matters for... you know, your career, your future. Exactly. And that's sort of where we come in. Welcome to the deep dive, where we try to cut through that noise. Today, we're diving deep into the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025. And this isn't just any report. No, it's huge. It pulls together views from over 1,000 global employers. Right, representing over 14 million workers, 22 industries, 55 economies, all looking ahead to 2030. And it's crucial because these are the organizations actually doing the hiring, shaping things. Plus, there's extra data from partners like ADP, Coursera, Indeed, LinkedIn, and... it builds a really rich picture. Yeah, it does. So our mission for you, the listener, is basically to pull out the most critical bits, the real aha moments, maybe some surprising facts from all this research. Think of it as a shortcut to getting up to speed. Exactly. Giving you clarity without feeling totally buried in data. By the end of this, you should have a much clearer, more actionable sense of what's coming and crucially, what it means for you. Okay, let's get into it. Right. So let's unpack this. The report points to five major macro trends that are really reshaping the global labor market between now and 2030. These aren't small adjustments. No, these are fundamental shifts. And what's really interesting is how they connect, how they influence each other. It's like a web. Totally. Understanding each strand helps see the whole pattern. So the first one, maybe the most obvious, is technological change. Totally. Right, but it's deeper than just AI buzzing everywhere. Yeah. The report actually says the most transformative trend overall, 60% of employers say this is simply broadening digital access. That's the bedrock, isn't it? It enables everything else. It seems so. And then within that tech bucket, that's where AI and information processing come in strong. Extremely strong. 86% of employers expect those specific technologies to transform their business. Wow. 86%. Yeah. And a big part of that surge is generative AI, gen AI. Investment in that area has like skyrocketed, almost an eightfold increase since late 2022. And that's the stuff making headlines because it feels more usable. Yeah. Like you can talk to it. Exactly. It lowers the barrier. The report suggests it can really enhance human skills. It's not just about replacing tasks, but augmenting performance. So like giving an accounting clerk instant access to complex tax codes? Or a nurse checking rare symptoms? Precisely. Providing that expert knowledge right when it's needed. Augmenting their skills. But the adoption isn't even, right? Not at all. Very uneven. IT is way ahead, naturally. Construction, for example, is lagging. And there's a big digital divide. Advanced economies are adopting rapidly, while low-income economies are often on the sidelines. Hmm. That's a major equity issue. And it's not just AI, there's also robotics and autonomous systems. Right. Nearly 60% of businesses see transformation coming from that area too. Robot density, the number of robots per 10,000 workers has doubled in seven years, clearly. That's fast. It is, though again, very concentrated in certain regions and industries. Okay, so tech is huge. What's the second macro trend? Economic uncertainty. And this isn't just about inflation, though that's part of it. The rising cost of living actually ranks as the second most transformative trend overall. Half of all employers expect it to reshape their business by 2030. Even if inflation cools down a bit. Even then, yes. And alongside that, a general economic slowdown worries over 40% of businesses. And how does it translate to jobs? Well, inflation has a kind of mixed outlook for net job creation, but slower growth. That's expected to displace about 1.6 million jobs globally. But interestingly, that pressure also drives demand for skills like creative thinking, resilience, adapting to that constant change. Right. The human skills become even more valuable in uncertain times. Okay. Trend number three. The green transition. This is all about environmental pressures and opportunities. Climate change mitigation is the third most transformative trend cited. 47% of employers see it transform in their business. And adaptation isn't far behind. Exactly. And this is creating real demand for specific jobs. Like? Renewable energy engineers, environmental engineers, specialists in electric and autonomous vehicles. Those roles are growing fast. And you see it in the skills data too, right? Environmental stewardship. It's in the top 10 fastest growing skills for the first time. That's a big signal. It shows a fundamental shift in how industries need to operate. Definitely. Okay, number four. Demographic shifts. This is a really interesting one because it plays out differently depending on where you are in the world. How so? In higher income economies, you've generally got aging populations and shrinking working age groups. That impacts about 40% of employers there. Okay. But in many lower income economies, it's the opposite. Expanding working age populations, younger populations. affecting about a quarter of employers. So completely different pressures on the labor market. Exactly. Aging populations drive demand for health care jobs. Think nursing professionals, personal care aides. Makes sense. While those growing younger populations boost demand for education roles like university or secondary school teachers. fascinating how those global population dynamics trickle down to specific job demands okay the fifth and final macro trend geoeconomic fragmentation bit of a mouthful but think of it as global tensions trade wars political instability That kind of thing. Precisely. Geopolitical tensions are expected to force business model changes in over a third of organizations. Things like trade restrictions, subsidies, industrial policies, they all play a role. And the impact on the workforce. Increased demand for security roles, definitely. Security management specialists, cybersecurity skills are way up. And it also makes companies more likely to reshore operations, bring production back closer to home because of those global uncertainties. Plus, it boosts demand for skills like resilience, flexibility, leadership, coping with that fractured landscape. Right. OK, so those are the five big forces, tech, economy, green transition, demographics and global fragmentation. Phew. So what does this all mean for actual jobs between now and 2030? Well, the report talks about structural labor market churn. About 22% of today's jobs are expected to change significantly by 2030, either growing or shrinking fundamentally. 22% churn sounds disruptive. It is disruptive, but it's not all negative. The forecast is for 170 million new jobs to be created, offset by the displacement of 92 million current jobs. So the net result is actually growth about 7% or 78 million more jobs globally. So net positive, but a lot of change underneath. What kinds of jobs are growing fastest in percentage terms? Unsurprisingly, many are tech driven. big data specialists, AI and machine learning folks, software developers. As usual suspects. Right. Then you have the green transition roles we mentioned, EV specialists, renewable energy engineers. And reflecting those global tensions, security roles like information security analysts are booming too. But percentages can be a bit misleading sometimes. What about sheer volume, the jobs adding the most absolute numbers of people. That's a really important distinction. And here the picture broadens quite a bit. Yeah. The largest growth in absolute terms expected to be farm workers. Farm workers. Really? Yes. Potentially 35 million new jobs globally by 2030, driven by a mix of the green transition, improving digital access in rural areas, and maybe even cost of living pressures pushing some towards agriculture. Wow. Okay. That's not what I would have guessed first. What else is big in absolute numbers? Delivery drivers, construction workers, salespersons, food processing workers. These foundational roles are still expected to see massive growth, influenced by tech, demographics, economic trends. So it's not just high-tech coding jobs driving growth. Not at all. And then you have the care economy, nursing professionals, personal care aides, huge growth there due to aging population. and education driven by those expanding younger populations in certain regions. So a real mix from tech specialists to farm workers to nurses. What about the other side? The fastest declining jobs. This is where automation really bites. The biggest declines both in percentage and absolute terms are expected in clerical and secretarial work. roles cashiers ticket clerks administrative assistants executive secretaries postal clerks bank tellers data entry clerks that whole category and the drivers are what we discussed digital access AI robotics exactly those technologies are directly automating many tasks in these roles is there anything surprising in the declining list maybe a couple roles like graphic designers and legal secretaries which felt pretty stable or were even growing not long ago are now projected to decline ah so that's gen AI starting to impact more knowledge-based creative or administrative work it certainly suggests that it shows the reach of these technologies is broadening quite significantly Okay, that's a sobering thought for some professions. Let's shift to skills then. Because if jobs are changing this much, skills must be too. This is where it gets personal for the listener, right? Absolutely. This is about what you need to know and potentially learn. So the report finds that on average, workers can expect about 39% of their core skills to be disrupted or become outdated by 2030. 39%. Still sounds like a lot. It is significant, yes. But here's the interesting bit. This skill instability, the pace of change, has actually slowed down a bit compared to the last report. Oh, it was higher before. Yeah, it was projected at 44% back in 2023. The slowdown might be because people and companies are getting more proactive about learning. How so? Well, the report notes that about half of all workers surveyed had completed some form of training recently, up from 41% previously. So there's a real focus on continuous learning starting to take hold. That's encouraging. People are adapting. So what are the fastest growing skills they're learning or should be learning? Tech skills are right at the top. No surprise there. AI and big data literacy, understanding networks and cybersecurity, general technological literacy. Those are the top three. Okay. Tech, tech, tech. It's definitely not just tech. Good. Human centric and cognitive skills are also surging. Creative thinking is ranked very highly. resilience, flexibility, agility, crucial in this changing world. Okay. Curiosity and lifelong learning itself is seen as a key skill. So the ability and willingness to keep learning is a skill in itself. Absolutely. And as we mentioned, environmental stewardship cracked the top 10 for the first time, reflecting that green transition trend. What about skills becoming less important? This is also quite telling. For the first time, physical and manual skills, things like manual dexterity, endurance, precision, show a net decline in importance overall. And foundational cognitive skills, too. Yes. Things like reading, writing, and basic mathematics are also expected to diminish slightly in importance. The assumption is that digital tools and AI will increasingly handle or assist with these tasks. It really paints a picture of a future where uniquely human adaptable skills are paramount alongside tech fluency. Exactly. And that brings us to a really fascinating point about AI and human skills, maybe an ah-ha. moment. Indeed did a study for this report using GPT-4O asking the AI to assess its own capability to substitute for granular human skills. Asking the AI itself? Interesting approach. What did it find? Out of over 2,800 specific skills analyzed, zero showed a very high capacity for substitution by Gen AI. Zero. Wow, so much for the robot takeover then. Well, it's more nuanced. The vast majority, 69%, had very low or low substitution capacity. Meaning AI can't easily do most things humans do. Especially things requiring physical action, complex judgment, or interpersonal skills like empathy, active listening, manual dexterity. Those showed basically no substitution potential currently. So where is AI strong, according to itself? It excels at tasks involving theoretical knowledge, data manipulation, summarizing, drafting text, calculations, translation, things that are more digitally made of. Which strongly suggests the future is about augmentation. AI working with humans, enhancing our capabilities rather than wholesale replacement. Precisely. Which makes skills like critical thinking, complex problem solving, judging the output of AI even more important. You need humans to steer the ship. Okay, that's a crucial insight. But despite this, skill gaps are still a massive problem. It's huge. 63% of employers called skill gaps the single biggest barrier preventing them from transforming their businesses. 63 percent. So there's a mismatch between the skills needed for these new ways of working and the skills people currently have. A significant mismatch. The scale of training needed is immense. The report estimates that if the world's workforce was just 100 people, 59 of them would need some form of training by 2030. More than half the workforce needs retraining or upskilling. Essentially, yes. The good news is employers seem to recognize this, 85% say they plan to prioritize upskilling their current workforce. That's a strong commitment. So if you're listening and your employer isn't talking about upskilling, maybe it's time to start that conversation. Definitely a conversation worth having. And employers expect to fund most of this themselves, anticipating payoffs in productivity, competitiveness, and importantly, talent retention. Right. Investing in your people makes them more likely to stay. Okay, so we've covered the big trends, the jobs, the skills. What are employers actually doing strategically? What are their plans to navigate all this? They have several top workforce strategies. As we just mentioned, upskilling the existing workforce is number one, 85% or footwork. Okay, internal focus first. What else? Accelerating automation is still high on the list for 73%. But interestingly, that figure is actually down from 80% in the previous report. Down. So slightly less gung-ho about pure automation. It seems so. It aligns with that shift towards augmentation. In fact, 63% explicitly plan to complement and augment their workforce with new tech rather than just replace. That's a key distinction. Augmentation, not just automation. Exactly. Hiring new staff with needed skills is also key for 70%. About half plan to actively transition existing staff internally from declining roles into growing ones. So looking inside first, trying to reskill and redeploy. That seems to be a major part of the strategy, yes. It suggests opportunities for internal mobility if you're willing to learn new skills. And what about strategies, specifically for AI? How are they planning to integrate it? Again, the focus is heavily on integration and collaboration. 77% plan to reskill or upskill their current staff to work alongside AI effectively. Training people with the tools. Right. And they're also hiring. 69% plan to recruit AI specialists, people who can design and enhance the tool. tools, and 62% plan to hire people specifically skilled to work with AI tools day to day. So hiring both the builders and the users. But there's a flip side. There is. While most are focused on hiring and re-skilling, a significant minority, 41%, also expect AI adoption will lead to some downsizing where tasks can be fully automated. So it's a dual impact. Growth and efficiency gains, but potential displacement too. It's complex. Now, what about attracting and keeping talent? There was some interesting data comparing employer and employee views, right? Yes, a collaboration with ADP Research. It showed some areas of alignment and some clear gaps. Where do they agree? Both employers and employees agree that improving career progression, offering higher wages, and providing flexible remote or hybrid work are important for attraction and retention. Okay, good alignment there. Where's the disconnect? A big one was pension policies. employees ranked good pensions really highly fifth most important factor for staying with a company and employers they ranked it way down at 15th in terms of what they think retains people so potentially a blind spot for some companies hmm that's a useful nugget for anyone negotiating your job hunting yeah Finally, how are companies assessing skills during hiring? Is it still all about the degree? Work experience remains the absolute king. Over 80% expect to keep relying on that as the main way to assess candidates. Okay, experience still matters most. But skills assessments are definitely rising. Almost half plan to use pre-employment tests to directly measure competencies. Psychometric tests are also growing. So a move towards proving you can do it, not just saying you have. Exactly. And degrees. They still matter. 43% require a university degree for many roles, especially those fastest growing tech and specialist jobs. But many of the jobs with the largest absolute growth, remember the farm workers, construction workers, care aides, those are often accessible through vocational training, apprenticeships, associate degrees. Ah, so a growing skills-first approach for many high-volume roles. construction workers, That could open doors. It really could. It suggests that focusing on acquiring specific, demonstrable skills can be a valid pathway, even without a traditional four-year degree for many roles. Okay, we have covered a lot of ground today unpacking this massive Future of Jobs report. We really have. And what seems clear is, yes, the world of work is transforming, driven by these powerful forces, tech, climate, economics, demographics, global shifts. It's complex. It is. But the key takeaways feel maybe cautiously optimistic. The overall job outlook is net positive, more jobs created than lost globally. And that scary pace of skill change seems to be stabilizing somewhat. Right, partly because people and companies are actively leaning into upskilling and lifelong learning. And the narrative around AI seems to be shifting more towards augmentation, collaboration, enhancing human potential rather than just replacing it. Which puts the focus squarely back on those uniquely human skills. Creativity, critical thinking, resilience, adaptability, empathy. Those become the differentiators, the skills that work with the technology. So you, the listener, now have hopefully a much clearer map of these forces, the growing jobs, the declining ones. the crucial skills. A framework for thinking about your own career path within this changing landscape. So here's a final thought to leave you with. Considering everything we've just uncovered, all the trends, the skills, the shifts, what single skill, if you really focused on mastering it starting today, do you think would give you the greatest advantage in this transforming world? And perhaps more importantly, how will you start building it? Because the future of jobs isn't just something that happens to you. It's something you really do have an active role in shaping for yourself.