New Economy Skills Unlocking the Human Advantage 2025

Human-centric skill importance, by region, 2025 FIGURE 17 Share of organizations 0% 100%Analytical thinking Creative thinking Curiosity and lifelong learning Dependability and attention to detail Empathy and active listening Leadership and social influence Motivation and self-awareness Multi-lingualism Reading, writing and mathematics Resilience, flexibility and agility Systems thinking Teaching and mentoring Central Asia Eastern Asia Europe Latin America and the Caribbean Middle East and Northern Africa Northern America South-Eastern Asia Southern Asia Sub-Saharan Africa617167794774717175 495563625758546468 242954592954586441 494546572638304147 333954662867565234 612967684669636662 582946513248595962 271013212317212345 1822172718 302625265081715470 643671793367354359 462638471322253059 24262128 Source: World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Survey 2024. Looking ahead, demand for human-centric skills shows great variation across industries, reflecting both structural changes and sector-specific needs. Figure 16 shows that creativity is the most in demand in insurance and pensions management, while problem- solving skills such as analytical thinking and systems thinking are considered most important in both the education and training and mining and metals sectors. Demand for emotional intelligence skills is also gaining traction in sectors such as real estate and automotive and aerospace where motivation is the most sought after, while resilience is critical in the agriculture and telecommunications sectors. Collaboration and communication skills remain central to workforce needs in telecommunications, where leadership is also highly ranked, and in automotive and aerospace where empathy and active listening is expected to grow in demand by 2030. Learning and growth skills, such as curiosity and lifelong learning, teaching and mentoring, and dependability, are expected to grow in demand in education and training, automotive and aerospace, oil and gas, and real estate. By contrast, some sectors display weaker reliance on some of these skills. Accommodation, food and leisure, for example, places less emphasis on analytical and systems thinking, prioritizing instead creativity and leadership to meet customer-facing demands. Similarly, the government and public sector shows stronger demand for creativity and resilience but ranks lowest for curiosity and empathy compared to other sectors.Regional trends Demand for human-centric skills also varies significantly by region, reflecting distinct labour- market priorities and cultural contexts. Figure 17 shows that in 2025, analytical thinking and resilience stand out as the most valued skills across most regions. Eastern Asia places comparatively higher emphasis on curiosity and lifelong learning than other regions, while Latin America and the Caribbean focuses on resilience, systems thinking, leadership and empathy. Central Asia employers prioritize creative thinking more strongly than their peers, pointing to a focus on innovation and problem solving. While multilingualism is deprioritized in most regions, it is particularly important for employers in Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Notably, curiosity and lifelong learning, often viewed as a future-ready skill, receives comparatively less emphasis in Sub- Saharan Africa than in other regions. This reflects a focus on more immediate workforce priorities, such as cultivating dependable and resilient workers who can navigate uncertainty and deliver consistent results. Over time, however, greater investment in curiosity and lifelong learning are essential to the region’s adaptability and innovation capacity as technological transformation accelerates. Demand for human-centric skills varies significantly by region, reflecting distinct labour- market priorities and cultural contexts. New Economy Skills: Unlocking the Human Advantage 24