What positions and skills will be in demand in the near future?
23. May 2023Over the next five years, nearly a quarter of jobs in the world will change, and with them the skills required to perform them. Demand for digital and technical skills will grow. Soft skills such as creativity, emotional intelligence and critical thinking – skills that are difficult to automate – will also be key.
This is according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2023 report, which provides an overview of the skills and jobs that will be in demand over the next few years. The report is based on the results of a survey of 803 companies in 43 countries, including the Czech Republic. This is the fourth survey in a row; previous reports were published in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
The pace of change will be great, technology will affect the labour market positively
The labour market is set to undergo major changes in the coming years, with almost a quarter of jobs set to change over the next five years, while some will be eliminated and others created, according to the report. 14 million jobs, or two per cent of current employment, will be lost. Many factors will affect the labour market, including slower economic growth, rising living costs and climate change, in addition to technological developments and AI.
Along with the spread of tools like ChatGPT into people’s daily lives, concerns about technological change and its negative impact on jobs have increased. Indeed, some jobs will disappear as a result of digitisation and automation, especially, of course, those that can be easily automated. These are, for example, clerical or office positions such as bank clerks, post office clerks, cashiers or people whose job involves data entry. However, technology and artificial intelligence will have a positive impact overall and will create new jobs in more than half of companies.
Most in-demand jobs: teachers, analysts, AI specialists
The most in-demand jobs will require a combination of technical and soft skills. These include jobs in data analysis, digital marketing and artificial intelligence. In the Czech Republic, there will be a growing need for digital transformation specialists in particular, but also mechanics and repairers.
The positions that are growing fastest in demand are related to technology, digitalisation and sustainability. Artificial intelligence and machine learning specialists are at the top of the list, followed by sustainability specialists and cybersecurity experts. By 2027, the need for these positions will grow by an average of 30 %.
In terms of overall job numbers, jobs in education or agriculture will increase over the next five years. In education, the need will increase by 10 % and 3 million new jobs will be created for teachers in vocational education, universities and colleges. In addition, 3 million jobs are to be created in agriculture (e.g. operating farm machinery and equipment) and 4 million digital-related positions, such as specialists in e-commerce, digital transformation and/or digital marketing and strategy.
What skills are most needed?
People who can adapt to new trends, are willing to learn new things and acquire new skills will succeed in a changing world. Analytical and creative thinking remain the most important skills, but so do resilience and flexibility, motivation, curiosity, reliability and technological literacy. The ability to listen to others, empathy or leadership and quality control will also come in handy.
Trends show that the need for these skills will persist in the long term, even for today’s children and young people who have not yet entered the labour market. Strengthening digital skills, analytical thinking and technological literacy is therefore part of the current educational reform in the Czech Republic, the ICT revision of the Framework Educational Programmes, approved in 2021, which focuses on equipping pupils with the skills for life and work in the 21st century and newly introduces the development of pupils’ digital competences in all subjects.
What lies ahead in the next five years?
Almost a quarter of jobs will change: 69 million new positions will be created and 83 million jobs will disappear.
Technology will be one of the drivers of change in the labour market, with more jobs created than lost.
Three quarters of organisations plan to use artificial intelligence.
One third of tasks are currently performed by machines, a percentage that is estimated to rise to 43 % in five years.
The greatest demand is and will be for people who have both technical and soft skills.
Companies rank analytical and creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and motivation among the most important skills.
The ability to learn new things, master new technologies and acquire new skills will also be important.
Overall, 44 % of workers will need to change their basic skills (37 % in the Czech Republic), so retraining and further education will be necessary.
Millions of jobs will be created in education, agriculture and in areas related to digitalisation (e.g. digital marketing).
At the same time, companies plan to invest in upskilling and retraining their existing workforce, as well as recruiting new talent with the necessary skills. 42 % of companies plan to train their workforce to use AI and big data. In the Czech Republic, companies most want to develop analytical thinking (62 %) and AI and big data (38 %) as part of retraining and upskilling over the next five years. Companies in the Czech Republic expect the vast majority of training to be funded by their employers (91 %).
Machines perform a third of tasks – less than expected
Organisations now estimate that 34 % of all tasks are performed by machines and the remaining 66 % by humans. This is much lower than previously estimated and means that businesses are adopting automation more slowly than expected. By 2020, they estimated that almost half of all activity will be fully automated and taken up by machines within five years. Now, they’ve tempered their estimates, saying that 43 % of tasks will be automated by 2027. Automation and artificial intelligence will continue to change the way we work.
Top 10 skills in demand for 2023
- Analytical thinking
- Creative thinking
- Resilience and flexibility
- Motivation and self-awareness
- Curiosity and lifelong learning
- Technological literacy
- Reliability and attention to detail
- Empathy and active listening
- Leadership and social influence
- Quality control
Source: How will artificial intelligence and new technologies affect the labour market? (Edu.cz )