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Technological changes, global politico-economic fragmentation, as well as world-wide social uncertainties in sustainability, climate mitigation and demographic shifts, coped with the energy and green transitions (in separate and in combination form) are presently among the major drivers that are going to shape and transform global and regional labor markets in the coming decades. Thus, e.g. about 40 percent of new skills will appear just during next 15 years and about 90 million jobs will be displaced.
Background
About 170 million new jobs will be created by global macro trends this decade, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum that analyzed the future of work over the next five years. The report finds, for example, that such new trends in national political economies as e.g. the green transition, economic and demographic challenges, climate mitigation, sustainability, etc. fundamentally reshaping national and global labor markets: thus, the newly created jobs would cover about 14 percent of present employment level. Accordingly, about 92 million existing labor positions will be displaced reflecting modern global challenges’ effect; however, at the same time the net employment world-wide would increase by about 78 million jobs, according to the report.
Some jobs will be growing fast reflecting demands driven by technological advancements such as digital transition, artificial intelligence (AI), as well as quickly increasing positions in big data specialists, fintech engineering and machine learning specialists, followed by networks, cybersecurity and technological literacy.
For example, agro-sector has topped the “priority list”, followed by the green transition trends, including efforts to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to the climate crisis; these trends will drive growth that will create 34 million additional jobs by 2030 (e.g. adding to the 200 million farm-workers today). Widening digital access and the rising cost of living are also contributing to the profession’s growth.
Then, delivery drivers, software developers, building construction workers and shop salespersons complete the top five in the priority list.
Besides, food processing workers are also among the largest growing jobs, alongside health-care jobs (including nursing professionals, social workers and counselling positions) are projected to grow significantly over the next five years; it can be explained by demographic trends, especially ageing working-age populations, the report says.
Source and citation from: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/01/future-of-jobs-report-2025-jobs-of-the-future-and-the-skills-you-need-to-get-them/
Global workforce transformation
The extensive expert analysis in the World Economic Forum, recently presented the “Future of Jobs Report-2025”, has revealed modern macro-trends impacting jobs and skills around various parts of the world. The report also reveals some potentials that the workforce’s transformation strategies at national governance and employers’ level could implicate existing politico-economic strategies.
These issues are closely connected with the risk’s agenda, i.e. the so-called “future of risk” for the industries in disruption. In modern developmental situations world-wide, which are defined by systemic disruption, radical unpredictability and rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, the classical distinction between risk and uncertainty demands urgent re-assessment. Besides, the rising frequency of high-impact shocks exposes the fragility of conventional risk management approaches. As such, a paradigm shift is required: from viewing disruption as episodic to understanding it as systemic one: thus, WEF suggests a novel approach for uncertainty management, adopting the so-called AAA framework, including such notions as anti-fragile, anticipatory and agility.
Note. According to the report, the “technological change, geoeconomic fragmentation, economic uncertainty, demographic shifts and the green transition” both individually and in combination are among the major drivers expected to shape and transform the global labor market by 2030. The present report reviews the feedback of over 1,000 leading global employers (which collectively representing more than 14 million workers across 22 industry clusters and 55 economies from around the world) and analysis the impact of modern macro-trends on jobs and skills, as well as on workforce transformation strategies that employers plan to embark during 2025-2030.
Source: https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/
Key report’s findings
Broadening digital technologies’ influence on employment and growth is expected to be the most transformative trend with 60% of employers expecting it to transform their business by 2030. Advancements in technologies would have the following consequences: in AI and ICT processing (86%); in robotics and automation (58%); in energy generation, storage and distribution (41%). However, these trends are would have a divergent effect on jobs, driving both the fastest-growing and fastest-declining roles, and fueling demand for technology-related skills, including AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity and technological literacy, which are anticipated to be the top three fastest- growing skills.
Increasing cost of living ranks as the second most transformative trend overall with half of employers expecting it to transform their business by 2030, despite an anticipated reduction in global inflation. General economic slowdown, to a lesser extent, also remains a vital top-component; it is expected to transform 42% of businesses. Inflation is predicted to have a mixed outlook for net job creation to 2030, while slower growth is expected to displace 1.6 million jobs globally. These two impacts on job creation are expected to increase the demand for creative thinking and resilience, flexibility and agility skills.
More in: https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/infographics-94b6214b36/
Climate-change mitigation is the third-most transformative trend (and the top trend related to the green transition); while climate-change adaptation ranks sixth with 47% and 41% of employers, respectively, expecting these trends to transform their business in the next five years. This is driving demand for “changing roles in employment”, such as renewable energy and environmental engineers, as well as electric and autonomous vehicle specialists: in all among the 15 fastest-growing jobs. Climate trends are also expected to drive an increased focus on environmental stewardship, as among the list of top 10 fastest growing future skills.
Two demographic shifts are increasingly seen to be transforming global economies and labor markets: a) aging and declining working age populations, predominantly in higher- income economies, and b) expanding working age populations, predominantly in lower-income economies. These trends drive an increase in demand for skills in talent management, teaching and mentoring, including motivation and self-awareness specialists. Aging populations drive growth in healthcare jobs such as nursing professionals, while growing working-age populations fuel growth in education-related professions, such as higher education teachers.
Geoeconomic fragmentation and geopolitical tensions are expected to drive business model transformation in one-third of surveyed organizations in the next five years. Over one-fifth of global employers identify increased restrictions on trade and investment, as well as subsidies and industrial policies, as factors shaping their operations.
Almost all economies for which respondents expect these trends to be most transformative have significant trade with the United States and/or China. Employers who expect geo-economic trends to transform their business are also more likely to offshore (and even more likely) to re-shore operations. These trends are driving demand for security related job roles and increasing demand for network and cybersecurity skills. They are also increasing demand for other human-centered skills such as resilience, flexibility and agility skills, leadership and social influence.
Structural transitions
Extrapolating current trends over the 2025-30 period in job creation and destruction due to structural labor-market transformation shows approximately 22% change compared to present employment: this is expected to entail the creation of 14 percent new jobs equivalent to 170 million jobs. However, this growth is expected to be offset by the displacement of the equivalent of 8% (or 92 million) of current jobs, resulting in net growth of 7% of total employment, or 78 million jobs.
So called “frontline jobs” are predicted to see the largest growth in absolute terms, including farmworkers, delivery drivers, construction workers, salespersons, and food processing workers. Besides, “care economy jobs”, such as nursing professionals, social work and counselling professionals and personal care aides are also expected to grow significantly over the next five years, alongside various education providers, such as tertiary and secondary education teachers. These job-groups are among the growing top ten new skills are leadership and social influence, talent management, analytical thinking and environmental stewardship.
Reference to: https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/infographics-94b6214b36/
Businesses are increasingly investing in reskilling and upskilling programs to align their workforce with evolving demands, the report says. Thus, technology-related jobs are the fastest- growing in percentage terms, including big data specialists, fintech engineers, AI and machine learning specialists and software and application developers, followed by “green and energy transition” jobs, autonomous and electric vehicle specialists, environmental renewable energy engineers within the top fastest-growing jobs.
However, clerical and secretarial workers, including cashiers and ticket clerks, administrative assistants and executive secretaries, etc. are expected to see the largest decline in absolute numbers; similarly, businesses expect the fastest-declining jobs to include postal service clerks, bank tellers and data entry clerks.
On average, workers can expect that about two-fifths, or about 40 percent of existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated up to 2030. Analytical thinking staff remains the most sought-after core skill among employers, with seven out of 10 companies considering it as essential in 2025; this is followed by resilience, flexibility and agility, along with leadership and social influence.
Generally, AI and big data top the list of fastest-growing skills, followed closely by networks, cybersecurity and technology literacy. Complementing these technology-related skills, creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, along with curiosity and lifelong learning, are also expected to continue to rise in importance over the 2025-30 period. Conversely, manual dexterity, endurance and precision stand out with notable net declines in skills demand, with 24% of respondents foreseeing a decrease in their importance.
Thus, while global job numbers are projected to grow by 2030, existing and emerging skills differences between growing and declining roles could exacerbate existing skills gaps. The most prominent skills differentiating growing from declining jobs are anticipated to comprise resilience, flexibility and agility; resource management and operations; quality control; programming and technological literacy.
Skilled workers: perspectives
Given these evolving skill demands, the scale of workforce up-skilling and re-skilling expected to be needed remains significant: in the world’s workforce, more than half would need training by 2030. Of these, employers foresee that 29 percent could be up-skilled in their current roles and the rest could be up-skilled and redeployed elsewhere within their organization. However, 11 percent would be unlikely to receive the re-skilling or up-skilling needed, leaving their employment prospects increasingly at risk.
Skill gaps are categorically considered the biggest barrier to business transformation by the present report: 63% of employers identified them as a major barrier by 2030. Accordingly, 85% of employers surveyed plan to prioritize up-skilling their workforce, with 70% of employers expecting to hire staff with new skills, 40% planning to reduce staff as their skills become less relevant, and 50% planning to transition staff from declining to growing roles.
More in: https://www.weforum.org/videos/what-are-the-most-essential-skills-in-the-workplace-of-tomorrow/
Staff for health and well-being
Supporting employee health and well-being is expected to be a top focus for talent attraction, with 64% of employers surveyed identifying it as a key strategy to increase talent availability. Effective re-skilling and up-skilling initiatives, along with improving talent progression and promotion, are also seen as holding high potential for talent attraction. Funding for – and provision of – re-skilling and up-skilling are seen as the two most welcomed public policies to boost talent availability.
General source: https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/digest/
The report also finds that adoption of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives remains on the rise. The potential for expanding talent availability by tapping into diverse talent pools is highlighted by four times more employers than two years ago.
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have become more prevalent, with 83% of employers reporting such an initiative in place, compared to 67% in 2023. Such initiatives are particularly popular for companies headquartered in North America, with a 96% uptake rate, and for employers with over 50,000 employees (95%).
By 2030, over half of employers anticipate allocating a greater share of their revenue to wages, with only 7% expecting this share to decline. Wage strategies are driven primarily by goals of aligning wages with workers’ productivity and performance and competing for retaining talent and skills. Finally, half of employers’ plan to re-orient their business in response to AI, two-thirds plan to hire talent with specific AI skills, while 40% anticipate reducing their workforce where AI can automate tasks.
General source and citations from: https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/in-full/