3.5 min read

Skills Will Define the Future Every year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) releases its Future of Jobs Report, and each edition reshapes the global conversation around work. The 2025 report has just been published, and it brings with it fresh insights, bold projections, and a few urgent wake-up calls.  

WCC has long explored how automation, artificial intelligence, and demographic change are reshaping the labor market. Often, these developments are discussed in terms of risks: the disappearance of jobs, the demand for reskilling on a massive scale, or even the fear that machines could make us complacent. Yet the reality is more complex. The new report is a timely reminder that the labor market does not simply shrink under pressure from technology. It transforms. While some jobs fade, new roles emerge, offering opportunities for growth, innovation, and progress toward a better world of work. 

What the Data Tells Us 

The findings in the WEF 2025 report are based on a survey of more than 800 companies across 45 countries, representing over 11 million workers. The scope is broad, spanning disruptive technologies such as AI and big data, megatrends such as the transition to green energy, and human factors including adaptability and motivation. The central questions are straightforward: which jobs are growing, which are declining, and what does that mean for businesses, governments, and individuals? 

The answers point to a significant reshaping of the labor market. Roles such as AI and machine learning specialists, sustainability experts, data analysts, information security professionals, agricultural equipment operators, and digital marketing strategists are projected to expand. On the other hand, jobs that involve routine and repetitive tasks, bank tellers, cashiers, postal service workers, data entry clerks, and assembly line operators, are expected to contract.

By 2029, almost a quarter of jobs will have changed substantially. Around 69 million new roles are predicted to emerge, while an estimated 83 million may disappear. This is not a story of jobs being wiped out altogether, but one of constant rebalancing, where new opportunities arise as old roles decline. 

Skills Will Define the Future 

Perhaps the most striking finding is not about jobs themselves but the skills they require. The report predicts that 44 percent of workers’ skills will be disrupted within the next five years. Analytical and creative thinking, resilience and agility, digital literacy, and self-awareness combined with intrinsic motivation are among the most in-demand capabilities. Even for roles that remain largely the same, the skill sets needed to perform them are shifting rapidly. 

The good news is that employers are not ignoring this challenge. More than three-quarters of companies surveyed say they plan to invest in upskilling and reskilling, with a strong focus on on-the-job learning and online platforms. Skills development is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a strategic priority that shapes competitiveness and resilience in the face of change. 

What It Means for WCC 

For WCC, these findings confirm what we have always known: workforce transformation is not a threat, but an opportunity. Our mission has always been to help people thrive in changing labor markets. With our Employment Platform, we support public employment services in future-proofing their workforces, connecting people to opportunities, and equipping governments with the tools to manage labor market transitions. With WORKR, our HR enterprise solution, we bring that same impact to the private sector, helping businesses prepare their people for what lies ahead. 

Upskilling is more than a buzzword. It is an economic and social necessity, and our products are built precisely to address this challenge. By enabling governments, public institutions, and enterprises to connect individuals to real opportunities, we help ensure that technological disruption leads not to exclusion, but to empowerment. 

Our Shared Responsibility 

The world of work will continue to evolve, sometimes in ways that are unpredictable. What must remain constant is our commitment to building smart, ethical, and human-centered tools that empower people to adapt and thrive. Jobs may come and go, but the need for meaningful support, guidance, and opportunity will always remain.