WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2023

As skills are being disrupted, businesses are designing and scaling up their training programmes.

In the 2020 Future of Jobs Report, companies estimated that 42% of workers had completed

training that bridged skills gaps. That share receded slightly to 41% in 2023. Given that

businesses see skills gaps in the local labour market as the foremost barrier towards achieving

industry transformation and investing in learning and training on the job as the most promising

workforce strategy for achieving their business goals (see Chapter 5), formulating effective reskilling

and upskilling strategies for the next five years is essential for maximizing business performance.

Upskilling priorities and

strategies

Figure 4.5 summarizes the training strategies of companies responding to the Future of Jobs

survey. The highest priority for skills training from 2023 to 2027 is analytical thinking, which is set to

account for 10% of training initiatives, on average. The second priority for workforce development

is to promote creative thinking, which will be the subject of 8% of upskilling initiatives.

Reskilling and upskilling priorities in the next

5 years

4.2

Working with others

Engagement skillsCognitive skillsEthics Physical abilitiesTe c h n o l o g y s k i l l sSelf-efficacy

Management skills

0 20 40 60 80 100 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Source
World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Survey 2023.
Note
The Future of Jobs Survey uses the World Economic Forum's Global Skills Taxonomy.

Average compositionof reskilling strategies

FIGURE 4.5 Reskilling and upskilling, 2023-2027Aggregated rankings of reskilling and upskilling priorities reported by surveyed organizations. Ranking differences relative to the ranking of

skill importance in 2023, as denoted in Figure 4.2. (Positive ranking differences indicate strategic priorities.) Share of companies which include each skill in their reskilling and upskilling strategies for 2023 to 2027. Average composition of reskilling and upskilling initiatives of

surveyed organizations.

Share of companies (%) Average share of reskilling priorities (%)

Analytical thinkingCreative thinking

AI and big dataLeadership and social influence

Resilience, flexibility and agilityCuriosity and lifelong learning

Te c h n o l o g i c a l l i t e r a c yDesign and user experience

Motivation and self-awarenessEmpathy and active listening

Ta l e n t m a n a g e m e n tService orientation and customer service

Environmental stewardshipResource management and operations

Marketing and media

Networks and cybersecurityDependability and attention to detail

Systems thinkingProgramming

Te a c h i n g a n d m e n t o r i n gMulti-lingualism

Manual dexterity, endurance and precisionGlobal citizenship

Reading, writing and mathematics

1.2.

3.4.

5.6.

7.8.

10.9.
11.12.
13.14.
15.16.
17.18.
19.20.
21.22.
23.24.
25.26.

Quality control

Sensory-processing abilities

differenceRanking

• –
  +12+5
  -2-1
  +9-1
  -5-2
  +1+1
  +10–
  +6
  -11+5
  -8–
  -2-4
  +1+1
  -9

-6

Reskilling focus,2023-2027

Future of Jobs Report 2023 42