New Economy Skills Unlocking the Human Advantage 2025

Learning trends in human-centric skills BOX 2 Coursera data reveals a steady increase in learning investments in human-centric skills between 2020 and 2025. Figure 6 shows that the hours Coursera learners invested in to nurture analytical thinking and systems thinking skills has grown consistently since 2022, with a sharper increase beginning in 2024. Learning hours in these skills increased by 1.7% between the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025. Apart from the increase in learners interested in analytical thinking and systems thinking, other skills, including creative thinking, motivation and self-awareness, resilience, empathy and active listening, curiosity and lifelong learning, and dependability and attention to detail expanded even more rapidly, with average growth of 8.2% between 2022 and 2025. Teaching and mentoring have also gained momentum since 2023, as learners increasingly invest in peer-to-peer training, instructional practice and curriculum design. By contrast, leadership and social influence have remained relatively stable, showing only modest increases in learning hours.Analytical thinking stands out among human- centric skills in terms of total learning hours, reflecting both its foundational nature and its integration across multiple course tracks. Figure 7 highlights its frequent co-occurrence with other skills, signalling its importance as a bridge skill across domains. For instance, 51% of courses teaching analytical thinking also cover AI and big data, 19% include resource management and operations, 16% address design and user experience, and 14% link to marketing and media. This interconnectedness is a hallmark of human- centric skills. For example, leadership is taught alongside empathy in 56% of cases, and both are closely linked to other skills groups such AI and digital skills, business, and green skills. Human- centric skills provide the foundation upon which technical and business competencies are built – and developing them reinforces capacity across multiple domains.Learning investment shifts in human-centric skills While employers point to weakness in workforce readiness, evidence suggests that individuals are actively investing in these capabilities. Coursera data generated for this paper shows a steady increase from 2020–2025 in learning hours dedicated to human-centric skills. Since 2022 there has been sharp growth in analytical and systems thinking, and since 2024 in creative thinking, resilience, empathy, curiosity and lifelong learning. The data also shows that human-centric skills are not taught in isolation but are closely intertwined with technical, business and green skills. This interconnectedness creates multiplier effects, as investing in one human-centric skill often strengthens others, reducing the overall cost and time of skilling and amplifying workforce readiness. Analytical thinking stands out as the most taught human-centric skill and as a bridge across domains, frequently appearing alongside AI, big data and business skills (Box 2). These trends highlight growing learner demand for human-centric skills and their significance for enabling adaptability across domains. New Economy Skills: Unlocking the Human Advantage 12