The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 offers a fascinating glimpse of the core skills that will be essential for the workforce in the coming years.

The bi-annual World Economic Forum (WEF) Future of Jobs Report 2025, tracks the evolving technological, societal, and economic trends to understand occupational disruption and identify future job opportunities. The 2025 edition focuses on the impact of generative AI and other technological advancements, alongside economic, environmental, and societal challenges, based on insights from over 1,000 global employers. 

Expected disruptions to skills

The report indicates that 39% of workers' core skills are expected to change by 2030. This represents a significant, albeit slightly reduced, level of disruption compared to previous years. The stabilisation in the pace of skill disruption can be attributed to the increasing focus on continuous learning, upskilling, and reskilling programs. These initiatives have enabled companies to better anticipate and manage future skill requirements.

However, the extent of skill disruption varies across economies and industries. Lowermiddle and upper-middle-income economies, as well as those affected by conflict, tend to expect greater disruption in workers' skills. In contrast, high-income economies foresee less instability.

Core skills in 2025

The report identifies several core skills that are essential for workers today. Analytical thinking remains the top core skill, with seven out of ten companies considering it essential. This is followed by resilience, flexibility, and agility, along with leadership and social influence. These skills underscore the critical role of adaptability and collaboration alongside cognitive abilities.

Other important core skills include:

  • Creative thinking: The ability to generate innovative ideas and solutions.
  • Motivation and self-Awareness: Understanding one's strengths and weaknesses and being driven to improve.
  • Technological literacy: Proficiency in using digital tools and understanding technological trends.
  • Empathy and active listening: The ability to understand and respond to others' emotions and perspectives.
  • Curiosity and lifelong learning: A commitment to continuous learning and staying updated with new knowledge and skills.
  • Talent management: The ability to attract, develop, and retain talent.
  • Service orientation and customer service: Providing excellent service and meeting customer needs.

Skills on the rise by 2030

The report projects that technological skills will grow in importance more rapidly than any other type of skill. Among these, AI and big data top the list as the fastest-growing skills, followed closely by networks and cybersecurity and technological literacy.

Complementing these technological skills, creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, and agility, along with curiosity and lifelong learning, are also seen as rising in importance.

Other skills expected to increase significantly in use by 2030 include leadership and social influence, environmental stewardship, systems thinking and empathy and active listening.

Core skills in 2030

Networks, cybersecurity and environmental stewardship rank among the top 10 skills expected to increase significantly in use by 2030, yet they are not currently considered core skills for most organisations. These emerging skills represent areas where businesses may need to anticipate growing demands and develop capabilities before they become critical.

On the other hand, skills that are core today but expected to remain stable over the next five years without significant increase in use include empathy and active listening, service orientation and customer service, and resource management and operations. 

Skill differences between growing and declining jobs

The report also highlights the differences in skill requirements between growing and declining jobs. 

Programming and technological literacy differentiate growing and declining roles, reflecting the increasing integration of technology across occupational fields. While programming scores higher in importance, it requires less proficiency compared to technological literacy. 

Resource management and operations, and quality control skills also show marked gaps in both proficiency and importance. Analytical thinking completes the list of top five skills for the importance gap, while ranking sixth for the skill proficiency gap.

In roles where manual skills remain critical, businesses are seeking a higher degree of specialisation that combines manual abilities with technological literacy and problemsolving skills. Growing roles demanding high manual skill proficiency include drafters, engineering and mapping technicians, electrotechnology engineers, mechanics, machinery repairers, and solar energy installation engineers. 

By contrast, declining roles, such as printing trades workers and transportation attendants, generally require lower levels of manual skill proficiency.

Drivers of skill disruption

Technological advances are expected to drive skills change more than any other trend over the next five years, driven by the expansion of digital access and the integration of AI and information processing technologies. These trends are not only seen as responsible for the growth of these three fastest-growing skills but also for the rising importance of analytical thinking and systems thinking. These shifts highlight the increasing complexity of decision-making and the need for critical problem-solving in a data-driven world.

Beyond the top 10 fastest-growing skills, design and user experience, along with marketing and media skills, are also expected to see growth driven by technological advancements. These skills are closely linked to digital transformation, reflecting the rising importance of delivering seamless digital experiences and understanding the impact of consumer behaviour.

Robots and autonomous systems are also seen as a key driver of skills change, contributing to the increased demand for not only the three top-growing skills but also programming and systems thinking, skills essential for managing and optimising interactions with autonomous technology. This trend underscores the importance of technological expertise and systems thinking as core skills in technical fields. These capabilities are crucial for enabling employees to adapt to and collaborate effectively with automated systems across a range of industries.

Interestingly, while programming remains stable as an in-demand skill, both respondents expecting growth in its use and those expecting decline consistently point to technological change as the primary driver behind this change. This highlights the dual effect of technology, underscoring how the same technological forces that drive job creation may also contribute to job displacement.

Geopolitics and climate change shape the global labour market

A number of key areas are expected to shape the global labour market from 2025 to 2030. The increasing cost of living is ranked as the second-most transformative trend, with half of the employers expecting it to impact their businesses by 2030. Additionally, a general economic slowdown is expected to transform 42% of businesses, potentially displacing 1.6 million jobs globally.

Climate change and sustainability are critical factors driving labour market changes. Climate-change mitigation is the third-most transformative trend, driving demand for roles such as renewable energy engineers and environmental engineers. Climate-change adaptation is expected to transform 41% of businesses, bringing focus to the need for environmental stewardship.

Geopolitical factors like trade restrictions and government policies are increasingly influencing the global job market. 

These dynamics are expected to drive business transformation for a third of employers, highlighting the interconnectedness of global systems and their impact on employment trends.

Significant demographic shifts, with aging and declining working-age populations predominantly in higher-income economies and expanding working-age populations mainly in lower-income economies will also influence labour market dynamics and workforce planning.

Structural labour-market transformation is a key theme in the report, predicting that job creation and destruction will amount to 22% of today’s total jobs by 2030. This transformation involves significant shifts in employment across sectors, driven by technological advancements, economic changes, and demographic trends. For example, the rise of AI and automation is expected to create new job opportunities in techrelated fields while displacing roles in traditional manufacturing and administrative sectors.  

Additionally, the green transition will generate demand for jobs in renewable energy and environmental management, while economic slowdowns may lead to job losses in other areas. This dynamic landscape underscores the importance of reskilling and upskilling workers to navigate the evolving job market.

Workers, employers, and policymakers must collaborate to navigate these changes, ensuring that the workforce is properly equipped with the skills needed to thrive in the future of work.

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