Core skills Figure 3.3 shows the core skills Future of Jobs Survey respondents identify as required by workers today. As in the two previous editions of this report, analytical thinking remains the top core skill for employers, with seven out of 10 companies considering it as essential. This is followed by resilience, flexibility and agility, along with leadership and social influence, underscoring the critical role of adaptability and collaboration alongside cognitive skills. Creative thinking and motivation and self-awareness rank fourth and fifth, respectively. This combination of cognitive, self-efficacy and interpersonal skills within the top five emphasizes the importance ascribed by respondents to having an agile, innovative and collaborative workforce, where both problem-solving abilities and personal resilience are critical for success. The top 10 core skills are complemented by technological literacy, empathy and active listening, curiosity and lifelong learning, talent management, and service orientation and customer service. Skills that reflect the important role of technical proficiency, strong interpersonal abilities, emotional intelligence, and a commitment to continuous learning demonstrate respondents’ expectation that workers must balance hard and soft skills to thrive in today’s work environments. While the core skill sets are relatively consistent across broader industries and geographical regions, there are notable distinctions within specific sectors and geographies. For instance, the Insurance and Pensions Management industry places a significantly higher value on curiosity and lifelong learning, with 83% of respondents identifying it as a core skill compared to the global average of 50%. Resilience, flexibility and agility are also considered as especially crucial in this sector, with 94% of respondents emphasizing their importance versus a global average of 67%. Working with othersEngagement skills Cognitive skills Physical abilitiesEthics Technology skills Self-efﬁcacyManagement skills 0 20 100 40 60 80 Source World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Survey 2024.Note The Future of Jobs Survey uses the World Economic Forum's Global Skills Taxonomy.Core skills in 2025 FIGURE 3.3 Share of employers who consider the stated skills to be core skills for their workforce. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. Share of employers surveyed (%)Analytical thinking Resilience, ﬂexibility and agility Leadership and social inﬂuence Creative thinking Motivation and self-awareness Technological literacy Empathy and active listening Curiosity and lifelong learning Talent management Service orientation and customer service AI and big data Systems thinking Resource management and operations Dependability and attention to detail Quality control Teaching and mentoring Networks and cybersecurity Design and user experience Multi-lingualism Marketing and media Reading, writing and mathematics Environmental stewardship Programming Manual dexterity, endurance and precision Global citizenship Sensory-processing abilities69% 67% 61% 57% 52% 51% 50% 50% 47% 47% 45% 42% 41% 37% 35% 26% 25% 25% 23% 21% 21% 20% 17% 14% 13% 6% Future of Jobs Report 2025 35