New research shows that workers’ ability to transition into emerging roles will be a key factor in determining whether they experience success or fall behind in the future of work.
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest white paper, “A Global Framework for Enabling Transitions to the Jobs of Tomorrow,” examines how trends in technology, the economy, and climate change are disrupting the global labor market, and making job transitions more critical than ever.
The research reveals nearly a quarter (23%) of all jobs will change by 2027 — primarily driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. An estimated 69 million new roles are expected to be created and 83 million displaced.
To address these challenges the report highlights four key pillars essential for effective job transitions across the global workforce: reskilling and upskilling, improving employee-employer matching, ensuring worker safety nets, and multistakeholder collaboration to break through industry barriers.
Perhaps the most important pillar is reskilling and upskilling efforts. WEF predicts that 44% of job skills required in any given job will be transformed over a five-year period. This means that jobs will increasingly depend on continuous learning, with workers needing to adapt quickly to new skill demands to stay competitive in the labor market.
The WEF study also identified three key workforce trends that are influencing the labor market. First, there is a sharp rise in transitions into digital and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) roles. Second, transitions into healthcare and human-centric jobs are growing rapidly, especially in high-income economies with aging populations. Third, business services, such as sales and customer service, are becoming increasingly important as companies adopt new business models.
Economies that invest in areas like upskilling and improved job matching will better align labor supply with demand, which will help reduce unemployment rates and help workers secure higher paying.
