Skills outlook This chapter presents the results of the Future of Jobs Survey concerning skills, as classified by the World Economic Forum’s Global Skills Taxonomy.36 It begins by analysing respondents’ expectations of skill disruption by 2030, as well as the skills currently required for work and whether employers anticipate these skills will increase or decrease in importance over the next five years. The chapter then assesses the skills expected to become core skills by 2030, based on their current significance and anticipated evolution. It also contrasts the skills required for growing and declining jobs, revealing windows of opportunity for enabling dynamic job transitions. Finally, it offers an overview of the key drivers of skill transformation and concludes with an exploration of anticipated training needs and trends. Expected disruptions to skills When the Future of Jobs Report was first published in 2016, surveyed employers expected that 35% of workers’ skills would face disruption in the coming years. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with rapid advancements in frontier technologies, led to significant disruptions in working life and skills, prompting respondents to predict high levels of skills instability in subsequent editions of the report. The post-pandemic period, however, has seen employers adapt to these changes. The accelerated adoption of digital tools, remote work solutions, and advanced technologies such as machine learning and generative AI provided companies with relevant experience to better understand the critical skills required to navigate rapid technological change. Despite current uncertainty around the long-term impact of generative AI, the expected ongoing pace of disruption of skills has begun to stabilize, albeit at a high level. Overall, employers expect 39% of workers’ core skills to change by 2030 (Figure 3.1). While this represents significant ongoing skill disruption, it is down from 44% in 2023. One element contributing to this finding may be a growing focus on continuous learning, upskilling and reskilling programmes, enabling companies to better anticipate and manage future skill requirements. This is reflected in an increasing share of the workforce (50%) having completing training as part of long-term learning strategies compared to 2023 (41%) – a finding that is consistent across almost all industries. This is discussed further in section 3.3. Future of Jobs Report 2025 January 20253 3.1 Future of Jobs Report 2025 32