The future of jobs in 2025: 78 million new openings, and an urgent need for skills

The report projects that global trends, technological, economic, demographic and tied to the ecological transition, will generate 170 million new jobs by 2030. Over the same period, 92 million posts disappear. The balance is a net gain of 78 million openings. The shift touches roughly 22 per cent of jobs as they exist today.

Some of the fastest-growing jobs sit in technology, data and artificial intelligence. The report also stresses the growth of roles the economy cannot do without. Delivery drivers, care workers, teachers and agricultural workers top the list of occupations growing most in absolute terms by 2030. Advances in AI and renewable energy also drive demand for many technical and specialist roles.

Cashiers, administrative assistants and, more recently, graphic designers are identified as declining fast, largely under the impact of generative AI.

The skills gap is named as the main obstacle to business transformation. Close to 40 per cent of the skills the labour market requires are set to change, and 63 per cent of employers already cite that shortfall as a serious brake.

Technical skills in AI, big data and cybersecurity are in strong demand, and human skills matter just as much. Creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, agility, curiosity, leadership, talent management and analytical thinking are all skills whose demand rises fast. Combining the technical with the human counts for more with every year.

The report estimates that if the global workforce were a hundred people, 59 of them would need retraining or upskilling by 2030. That is more than 120 million workers exposed to the risk of redundancy in the medium term.

AI drives much of this transformation. Half of employers plan to reorient their activity towards the openings the technology creates. Building workers' skills is the most common response, chosen by 77 per cent of employers. At the same time, 41 per cent are considering headcount reductions as AI automates certain tasks. Moving staff from roles affected by AI into other parts of the business is a strategy close to half of employers are weighing, a way to ease skills shortages and reduce the human cost of the transition.

The rising cost of living is another key factor, with half of employers expecting it to reshape business models. Global inflation has eased, but price pressure and slower economic growth could still remove a further 6 million jobs by 2030.

Demographic change plays its part. Ageing populations in high-income countries push up demand in health care, while growing working-age populations in low-income regions drive growth in teaching occupations.

Geopolitical tension is a serious concern for 34 per cent of firms, with trade restrictions and shifts in industrial policy prompting offshoring and reshoring strategies. That pressure also raises demand for skills such as cybersecurity.

Faced with change on this scale, the report presses for urgent collective action from governments, business and the education sector. The priorities are closing the skills gaps, investing in retraining and upskilling, and opening routes into the jobs and skills in strongest demand. The aim is a resilient, adaptable global workforce able to thrive in the jobs ahead.

The World Economic Forum is already active through initiatives such as the Reskilling Revolution, which aims to give a billion people better education, skills and economic opportunities by 2030.