World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report Focuses on Growing Skills Gap
June 1, 2023
by Asheesh Advani, CEO, JA Worldwide
Did you know that employers expect that 44% of our skills as workers and employees will be disrupted over the next five years? The advent of AI and other technologies is rapidly changing the skills landscape and will require us to adapt. This is why the 2023 Future of Jobs Report, just released by the World Economic Forum, and its conclusions are worth understanding. It provides JA with a roadmap for building many of the skills that employers seek now and in the years ahead.
Since 2016, the Future of Jobs Report, a biennial publication of the World Economic Forum (WEF), explores how jobs—and the skills required to do those jobs—will evolve over the next five years. The report bases its analysis on a survey of the world’s largest employers: 803 companies across 27 sectors in 45 economies that employ 11.3 million workers. These employers share data about expected job growth and job cutbacks and detail the skills they are seeking in both candidates and employees. The result is a global look at jobs and skills trends, as well as the forces creating the most disruption in the workplace.
The last report, issued in October 2020, was six months into the global pandemic. As you can imagine, that report focused on the growing trend of hybrid workplaces, the outsized role of technology on job skills and job growth, the challenges of youth education and employment, the impact of the pandemic on economic opportunity, and other ramifications of the pandemic.
Global Findings for 2023–2028
The 2023 edition of the Future of Jobs Report, weighing in at nearly 300 pages (roughly double the length of the 2020 report), focuses on the headspinningly fast, profound effect of technology (particularly artificial intelligence) in the workplace, along with green energy transition opportunities, the persistent effect of COVID-19 on the supply chain, and political and geographic factors impacting the workplace. This report—far more than the three that preceded it—showcases the staggering transformation that AI and other technology is likely to have on the workplace and gives JA a roadmap for building many of the skills that employers seek now and in the years ahead.
WEF organizes the report into four main sections: what’s driving workforce transformation, the outlook for jobs, the outlook for skills, and how employers can both acquire and develop the talent they need. Although I urge you to read the report, 296 pages is a lot to get through, so here are a few high-level notes:
Most countries are facing higher unemployment and lower real wages than before the pandemic. Well educated professionals in high-income countries still enjoy a tight labor market, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting inflation has impacted almost everyone else in the job market.
The biggest job growth will come in the technology, agriculture, education, and e-commerce sectors, while the biggest job loss will be in administrative work, factory job, brick-and-mortar retail work, and data entry and record keeping.
Technology adoption will radically transform business over the next five years, including the use of AI, big data, cloud computing, digital platforms and apps, ecommerce and digital trade, education and workforce technology, and robotics.
Employers expect to automate 42% of business tasks in the next five years, up from 34% today. But the biggest disruptor will be in the type of business tasks that are able to be automated, due to the abilities of AI to reason and make decisions, versus the computing abilities of the past that were limited to processing data and information.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is impacting the workplace and changing consumer expectations. In addition, the largest number of new jobs will come from green transition.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs will prioritize hiring youth under age 25, women, and workers with disabilities, and will also focus on disadvantaged ethnic groups, older workers, low-income workers, and workers identifying as LGBTQI+.
The pandemic shifted worker preferences, with workers far more open to changing employers than in the past. Workers are worried that their salaries won’t keep pace with inflation, but in addition to pay, the most-valued workplace offerings are flexibility (in work hours and job location), job security, work-life balance to avoid burnout, diversity and inclusion (especially in leadership), and training opportunities.
The Skills Gap
JA learning experiences, which not only teach critical skills to young people but also inculcate the value and means of continuously building skills, are going to be critical in the next five years, as employers estimate that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted. (That’s not 44% of workers having to learn new skills, but that 44% of everyone’s skills will need to change. That’s nearly half of the skills you have today being unnecessary in the next five years, and new skills needing to replace those.)
From the skills outlook section of the report, I can give you a summary of the trends that are disrupting the skills needed in today’s workplace, as well as skilling/reskilling priorities over the next five years. The most highly prized skills are AI and big data, leadership and social influence, complex problem-solving, creative thinking, and technology literacy, as well as self-efficacy, working with others, systems thinking, talent management, and service orientation. Organizations are also looking for social-emotional attitudes like curiosity, resilience, flexibility, agility, a desire for lifelong learning.
What’s on the decline? Reading, writing, math (the core curriculum of most schools), fine-motor and endurance skills related to assembly and manufacturing work, and more.
In my own travels to World Economic Forum events, educational conferences, meetings with Fortune 200 companies, and JA student events around the world, I have seen these trends up close. According to the Future of Jobs Report, companies plan to reskill and upskill existing employees, with 80% investing in business learning. However, companies also report that they are not able to find new workers with the skills they need. JA’s focus on addressing this skills gap by connecting the educational system, youth, and employers will continue to be critical in the years ahead.