Expected impact of macrotrends on employment The remainder of this chapter discusses how Future of Jobs Survey respondents expect each of the five macrotrends driving labour market transformation – technological change, geoeconomic fragmentation, green transition, demographic shifts and economic uncertainty – to influence job growth and decline by 2030 (see Figure 2.6). Technological change Technology is predicted to be the most divergent driver of labour-market change, with broadening digital access expected to both create and displace more jobs than any other macrotrend (19 million and 9 million, respectively). Meanwhile, trends in AI and information processing technology are expected to create 11 million jobs, while simultaneously displacing 9 million others, more than any other technology trend. Robotics and autonomous systems are expected to be the largest net job displacer, with a net decline of 5 million jobs. These three trends – broadening digital access, advancements in AI and information processing, and robotics and autonomous systems technologies – also feature prominently as drivers of the fastest growing and declining jobs. In fact, 2.2 Expected impact of macrotrends and technology trends on jobs, 2025-2030 FIGURE 2.6 Source World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Survey 2024; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT.Jobs displaced Net effect Jobs created9.9M 9.1M 5.5M 5.2M 3.8M 3.1M 2.8M 1.8M 1.3M 1.0M 0.9M 0.9M 0.8M 0.7M 0.6M 0.3M 0.2M 0.1M 0.1M -1.6M -4.8MProjected job creation attributed to each trend (blue) and projected job displacement attributed to each trend (purple) between 2025 and 2030, based on the job growth and decline attribution expectations of surveyed employers and ILO employment ﬁgures by occupation. The projected net number of jobs created or destroyed attributed to each trend in the next ﬁve years (diamonds) is calculated by subtracting the total number of declining jobs from the total number of growing jobs. The Appendix provides additional details and the data behind this ﬁgure. Broadening digital access Growing working-age populations Increased efforts and investments to adapt to climate change Increased focus on labour and social issues Ageing and declining working-age populations Increased efforts and investments to reduce carbon emissions Increased government subsidies and industrial policy AI and information processing technologies (big data, VR, AR etc.) Increased restrictions to global trade and investment Energy generation, storage and distribution Increased geopolitical division and conﬂicts New materials and composites Rising cost of living, higher prices or inﬂation Stricter anti-trust and competition regulations Semiconductors and computing technologies Quantum and encryption Biotechnology and gene technologies Sensing, laser and optical technologies Satellites and space technologies Slower economic growth Robots and autonomous systems Future of Jobs Report 2025 25