The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published its “Future of Jobs Report 2025”, addressing the transformations expected in jobs and labor markets due to technological change, geoeconomic fragmentation, economic uncertainty, demographic shifts and the green transition. The report compiles the perspectives of over 1,000 leading global employers – representing over 14 million workers worldwide – between 2025 and 2030.
The report reveals that 60% of employers expect significant transformations in their workplaces by 2030 due to the expansion of digital access. The areas where the most substantial changes are anticipated include artificial intelligence and computing 86%, robotics and automation 58%, and energy production, storage and distribution 41%. In line with these expectations, demand is also projected to rise for skills related to artificial intelligence and big data, networks, cybersecurity and technological literacy. Rising living costs rank as the second most transformative trend among employers overall, while the general economic slowdown is also expected to play a significant role in shaping this transformation. As a result of both expectations, employers anticipate growing demand for skills such as creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility.
The third major factor expected to drive transformation in the labor market is the fight against climate change and the green transition. As a result, demand is projected to increase for environmentally focused occupations and job roles such as environmental engineering, renewable energy engineering and specialists in electric and autonomous vehicles. Notably, “environmental responsibility” has entered the list of fastest-growing skills for the first time within this context.
Demographic changes in countries directly impact the labor market. In recent years, particularly in developed countries, sharp declines in population growth rates have raised concerns about economic sustainability. In this context, the report highlights two key demographic shifts: the aging and shrinking working-age population in high-income economies and the growing working-age population in low-income economies. The report emphasizes that these demographic trends will increase demand for skills such as talent management, teaching and mentoring, motivation and self-awareness. Furthermore, it notes that countries with aging populations are expected to see growth in health care professions such as nursing, while countries with growing youth populations are likely to experience increased demand for education-related professions, particularly in higher education.
Lastly, the report emphasizes that geoeconomic fragmentation and geopolitical tensions on a global scale will lead to significant transformations in labor markets. These trends are expected to be strongly felt in economies with substantial trade relationships with the United States and/or China. In response to such dynamics, the report anticipates increased movement toward offshoring or reshoring of jobs. Accordingly, there will likely be rising demand for security-related job roles, as well as a growing need for network and cybersecurity skills. In light of these trends, demand for human-centered skills – such as resilience, flexibility, agility, leadership and social influence – is also expected to increase.
According to the global employers who participated in the assessment, the structural transformations discussed above are expected to result in both the creation of new job roles and the loss of some existing ones, amounting to 22% of current jobs during the 2025-2030 period. It is projected that new job roles equivalent to 14% of current employment (170 million jobs) will emerge, while 8% (92 million jobs) will be lost. Therefore, based on employers’ expectations, the report presents an optimistic picture, suggesting that far more jobs will be created than lost – resulting in a net gain of 78 million new positions globally.
In terms of absolute volume, the highest net growth in new job positions over the next five years is expected to occur in the agriculture and food sectors (such as agricultural and food processing workers). Similarly, significant growth is also projected in construction (construction workers), delivery services (delivery drivers), sales services (sales staff), care services (including nurses, social service and counseling professionals and personal care aides) and education (teachers and academic staff).
Similarly, the report identifies the fastest-growing jobs in percentage terms as those emerging from ongoing and future technological transformations. These positions are expected to be filled by prominent data specialists, fintech (financial technology) engineers, AI and machine learning experts, and software and application developers. The report also emphasizes that green and energy transition-related jobs – such as autonomous and electric vehicle specialists, environmental engineers and renewable energy engineers – are among the fastest-growing roles. However, the extent to which these new job roles materialize in a given country’s labor market will depend on how significantly that country is affected by the structural transformations discussed above and how swiftly and effectively it can respond to those challenges.
Due to the structural transformations mentioned above, the job roles expected to experience the largest decline in absolute numbers include clerical and secretarial positions such as postal service clerks, bank tellers and data entry clerks, cashiers, ticketing agents, administrative assistants and executive secretaries.
Lifelong learning as a priority
During this period, while some job roles are expected to disappear and new ones emerge, the skill sets required for existing positions are also anticipated to undergo significant transformations. In this context, the report estimates that, on average, two out of every five current skill sets (39%) will either be transformed or rendered obsolete between 2025 and 2030. As a result, acquiring new skills in the labor market becomes vital. Among the most prominent of these are artificial intelligence and big data, networks and cybersecurity and technological literacy. The attributes that are gaining increasing importance in new job roles include analytical thinking (considered essential by 70% of employers), along with resilience, flexibility and agility and leadership and social influence skills.
In sum, the WEF’s projections for the 2025-2030 period point to significant structural transformations in labor markets. Although the report presents an optimistic outlook – suggesting that job creation will outpace job losses during these transitions – the formation of a talent pool capable of meeting the dynamically changing skill demands of new job roles remains a considerable challenge. The dynamic shifts in labor markets cast doubt on the ability of large and rigid education systems to respond swiftly to such changes. In this context, enhancing workers’ resilience and enabling job seekers to align their skills with new job requirements has become increasingly critical. As the report also highlights, strengthening the supply of talent in response to these fundamental labor market transformations must become a central priority of public policy. Therefore, it is essential to build the necessary capacity for reskilling and upskilling rapidly and to broaden access to such opportunities.
In this context, the report states that 85% of employers plan to update the skills of their workforce, 70% intend to prioritize candidates with new skills in recruitment, 40% anticipate reducing employment due to outdated skills and 50% plan to train their employees to transition into emerging roles created by new skill demands in their sectors. Furthermore, the report notes that the emphasis on assessing various talent pools to increase talent supply has risen fourfold compared to two years ago – from 10% to 47% – highlighting the rapid evolution of skill requirements in labor markets and the urgent need to expand supply accordingly. As such, the main trend of the upcoming period will be the continuous upskilling and reskilling of both employees and job seekers. Consequently, education will increasingly extend beyond the boundaries of traditional education systems.
Therefore, the most prominent feature of the future will be the need to remain open to continuous learning. The report emphasizes that curiosity and lifelong learning skills will gain even greater importance during the 2025-2030 period. In other words, lifelong learning and skill renewal are no longer optional tools for career advancement, as they were in the past – they have now become essential for survival in today’s labor markets, which are subject to constant structural transformation driven by the dynamic processes outlined above. In fact, the report highlights that “if the global workforce were made up of 100 people, 59 of them would require training by 2030,” underlining the ongoing need for acquiring new skills and the growing importance of lifelong learning in dynamic labor markets. The report also notes that while half of employers plan to restructure their businesses in response to developments in AI technologies, two-thirds intend to hire talent with specific AI-related skills – clearly indicating that technological literacy, including AI, must be central to the focus of lifelong learning. Ultimately, individuals who actively engage in lifelong learning and continuously build their social networks will enhance not only their human capital but also their social and cultural capital – thereby acquiring the characteristics and in-demand skills needed to thrive in the labor market.