Future of Jobs Report 2025

At an aggregate level across all growing and declining roles, resilience, flexibility and agility skills are the most significant differentiator between growing and declining job roles, ranking higher in both importance and proficiency for growing roles. Programming and technological literacy also differentiates growing and declining roles, reflecting the increasing integration of technology across occupational fields. While programming scores higher in importance, it requires less proficiency compared to technological literacy. Resource management and operations, and quality control skills also show marked gaps in both proficiency and importance. Analytical thinking completes the list of top five skills for the importance gap, while ranking 6th for the skill proficiency gap. Manual dexterity, endurance, and precision display a notable difference in proficiency requirements rather than importance. This suggests that in roles in which manual skills remain critical, businesses are seeking a higher degree of specialization that combines manual abilities with technological literacy, and problem-solving skills. Growing roles demanding high manual skill proficiency include Drafters, Engineering and Mapping Technicians, Electrotechnology Engineers, Mechanics, Machinery Repairers, and Solar Energy Installation Engineers. By contrast, declining roles, such as printing trades workers and transportation attendants, generally require lower levels of manual skill proficiency. Notably, the only skill with an equal or lesser requirement in importance or proficiency for growing jobs is service orientation and customer service. These findings underscore the importance of targeted skills development efforts to support workers in transitioning to growing roles as well as to ensure employers can access a talent pool with the skills required for the future of work. Importance gapProficiency gap2.02.22.42.62.83.03.23.4 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.37 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.95 1.05 1.15 1.20 1.30 1.25 1.10 1.00 Working with othersEngagement skills Cognitive skills Technology skills Self-efficacyManagement skills Physical abilitiesWhen growing and declining job roles attach the same level of importance and proficiency to a skill, the index equals one. The bigger the value, the bigger the gap between growing and declining jobs. Analytical thinking Curiosity and lifelong learning Dependability and attention to detail Empathy and active listening Leadership and social influence Motivation and self-awareness Programming Quality control Reading, writting and mathematics Resilience, flexibility and agility Resource management and operations Service orientation and customer service Systems thinking Talent management Teaching, mentoring and coaching T echnology literacy Manual dexterity, endurance and precisionSkill importance gap and skill proficiency gap between growing and declining jobs FIGURE 3.7 Source World Economy Forum analysis, based on Future of Jobs Survey 2024, the World Economic Forum’s Global Skills Taxonomy and O*NET skill importance and level for each occupation.Note Bold lines represent the average across all skills. Future of Jobs Report 2025 42