Workforce strategy Upskilling the workforce emerges as the most common workforce strategy in response to macrotrends, over the 2025-2030 period, with 85% of surveyed employers anticipating adopting this approach (Figure 4.4). Upskilling is identified as a top 3 priority across all geographies, and economies at all income levels, with employers in high-income economies (87%) slightly ahead of those in upper-middle-income (84%) and lower- middle-income (82%) ones. Process and task automation is expected to be the second most common workforce strategy, with 73% of employers planning to accelerate their use of this approach – down from 80% as noted in the report’s 2023 edition. Additionally, 63% of employers intend to complement and augment their workforce with new technologies. Automation is a more pronounced strategy in high-income economies (77%), compared to upper-middle-income (74%) and lower-middle- income economies (57%). Regarding adjusting the composition of their workforce, 70% of organizations surveyed plan to hire new staff with emerging in-demand skills, 51% intend to transition staff from declining to growing roles internally, while 41% foresee staff reductions due to skills obsolescence. A slightly higher share of employers plan to move operations within closer control through reshoring, nearshoring or friendshoring (10%) than those who plan to offshore significant parts of their workforce (8%). Improving talent availability Business practices The importance of supporting employee health and well-being has newly emerged as a top priority to increase talent availability over the 2025-2030 period. As shown in Figure 4.5, 64% of employers now see promise in this approach, a marked rise from 9th place in the 2023 edition of this report to 1st this year. In fact, this newfound emphasis on this practice holds importance across industries, ranking first in eight sectors and consistently within the top four across all others. In the Insurance and Pensions Management sector, 85% of companies expect this practice to improve talent availability. The Accommodation, Food, and Leisure, and Education and Training sectors witnessed the largest jump in prioritizing employee well-being between 2023 and 2025. Additional business practices identified as promising to increase talent availability include providing effective reskilling and upskilling opportunities43, highlighted by 63% of organizations, this is particularly evident in the Government and Public sector, where four out of five respondents expect such measures to grow their talent base. Following closely behind, improving talent progression and promotion, previously ranked highest in the 2023 edition, remains a key focus for 62% of surveyed organizations. Higher wages are identified as a Share of employers surveyed (%)0 40 60 80 100 20 Workforce strategies, 2025-2030 FIGURE 4.4 Source World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Survey 2024. 85% 73% 70% 63% 51% 41% 10%8%Share of employers surveyed planning to adopt the stated workforce strategies. Upskill workforce Accelerate the automation of processes and tasks Hire staff with new skills to meet emerging business needs Complement and augment workforce with new technologies Transition existing staff from declining to growing roles Reduce staff whose skills are becoming less relevant or where roles are no longer needed Move operations within closer control through re-shoring, near-shoring or friend-shoring Off-shore signiﬁcant parts of workforce 4.2 Future of Jobs Report 2025 52