New Economy Skills Unlocking the Human Advantage 2025

Technological advances and evolving labour-market dynamics have intensified the demand for human- centric skills. The Future of Jobs Report 2025 underscores the urgency: by 2030, nearly six in 10 workers will need some form of training. While digital fluency in AI, big data and technological literacy is growing in importance, employers consistently place the highest value on human-centric skills as the real differentiators in the new economy. The talent pipeline: gaps in human-centric skills among youth While education systems have started to place a renewed emphasis on human-centric skills, progress has been uneven. Many countries identify these skills as policy priorities, but they are rarely embedded in curricula and or systematically tracked over time. A study of 152 countries found communication, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving to be the most frequently cited skills in national policy documents.1 However, even when these appear on education agendas, clear pedagogical and assessment guidance is limited.2 Terminology and frameworks to describe these skills also vary significantly, as systems tailor skill priorities to cultural contexts and values 3 Employers also see gaps in how education systems develop human-centric skills. The Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey 2025 shows that while nearly six in 10 executives globally believe primary and secondary education systems nurture the ability to work with others, fewer than half see creativity, curiosity or resilience as well-developed. Regional patterns differ. Most regions identify collaboration (for example working with others) as the strongest educational outcome, but Eastern Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean are the most optimistic. Sub-Saharan Africa has above-average ratings for resilience, creativity, curiosity, lifelong learning and working with others – suggesting confidence in its ability to prepare students to navigate change and work collaboratively. By contrast, Northern America, Central Asia and Oceania rank creativity and problem solving highest, collaboration lowest (Figure 2). 1.2 Supply and demand of human-centric skills Share (%) of executives indicating that public education systems develop the stated skill well, by regionFIGURE 2 Working with othersCreativity and problem solvingCuriosity and lifelong learningResilience, flexibility and agility Central Asia Eastern Asia Europe Latin America and the Caribbean Middle East and Northern Africa Northern America Oceania South-Eastern Asia Southern Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Global6542 68 49 64 50 43 39 58 56 565345 46 39 35 43 44 46 52 50 444737 39 37 37 43 36 40 42 41 404533 36 31 34 38 36 42 44 48 37 Mean 0% 100% Note: Share of executives indicating that public education systems develop the stated skill well, by region. Source: World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2025. New Economy Skills: Unlocking the Human Advantage 7