New Economy Skills 2025

Similarly, agriculture, forestry, and fishing remains heavily dependent on manual and human-centred work, despite the introduction of new technologies. Leisure industries also place greater emphasis on interpersonal and practical skills, such as communication and customer service. In both sectors, the slower pace of digital transformation and the ongoing importance of traditional practices mean that digital skills, while valuable, are not yet seen as critical to core activities. Looking more closely, Figure 16 illustrates the difference in employers who believe certain skills will become important or less important for their workforce between 2025 and 2030. Once again, there are significant contrasts between industries. For example, AI and big data skills are expected by 100% of those surveyed to see widespread growth in usage across both telecommunications and automotive and aerospace sectors, while 69% of organizations in accommodation, food, and leisure anticipate an increase in these skills. Drivers for this anticipated demand vary. In the automotive sector, the shift towards connected and autonomous vehicles, along with smart manufacturing, is driving advanced analytics to process sensor data, enhance safety, optimize supply chains and support innovation in electric and self-driving technologies. Professional services firms deal with complex and data-rich environments like finance and consulting, and increasingly depend on AI and big data to automate tasks, glean insights and offer tailored recommendations. Meanwhile, telecommunications companies face growing demands due to expanding networks, the advent of 5G, and the rise of Internet of Things (IoT) and need AI-driven analytics to manage vast data volumes, improve operations and deliver personalized customer experiences. On the other hand, sectors like agriculture, forestry, and fishing, and accommodation, food, and leisure appear be more cautious. About 70% of leaders in each field expect AI usage to rise, but 4% in agriculture, forestry, and fishing and 8% in accommodation, food, and leisure predict a decline. The importance of human-focused abilities, such as communication skills in leisure and manual labour in agriculture, likely explains the less enthusiastic outlook in these industries. Programming skills present a similar picture, framed within expectations of high demand, albeit not as aggressive as AI. Nearly half of financial services and capital markets firms, government and public sector bodies, and energy technology and utilities companies expect an increase in demand for programming skills, with around one in 10 businesses anticipating a decline in use. Rising demand for programming skills in financial services and capital markets, government and public sector, and the energy technology and utilities sectors is fuelled by ongoing digital transformation and the need for advanced software solutions, albeit with some businesses anticipating a decline due to increasing reliance on AI for automating development and testing tasks. About one-quarter of agriculture, forestry, and fishing businesses expect programming use to decrease, while nearly 30% anticipate an increase. In real estate, 25% foresee increased demand for programming skills, compared to 15% expecting a decline. Once again, these differing views reflect each sector’s approach to technology and the involvement of human workers: agriculture remains reliant on manual work despite new innovations, while real estate’s gradual digital shift still depends heavily on personal connections. Both sectors balance adopting new technology with traditional practices, leading to mixed expectations for programming talent. New Economy Skills: Building AI, Data and Digital Capabilities for Growth 25