- Research by the McKinsey Global Institute has explored the future of work in detail.
- This includes the kind of jobs that will be both lost and created, as technology such as AI takes hold.
- The study shows that while the need for manual skills will decline, the demand for technological, social and higher cognitive skills will increase.
- Below are 56 foundational skills associated with a higher likelihood of employment, higher incomes, and job satisfaction in the future world of work.
To future-proof citizens’ ability to work, they will require new skills—but which ones? A survey of 18,000 people in 15 countries suggests those that governments may wish to prioritize.
We know that digital and AI technologies are transforming the world of work and that today’s workforce will need to learn new skills and learn to continually adapt as new occupations emerge. We also know that the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated this transformation. We are less clear, however, about the specific skills tomorrow’s workers will require.
Research by the McKinsey Global Institute has looked at the kind of jobs that will be lost, as well as those that will be created, as automation, AI, and robotics take hold. And it has inferred the type of high-level skills that will become increasingly important as a result. The need for manual and physical skills, as well as basic cognitive ones, will decline, but demand for technological, social and emotional, and higher cognitive skills will grow.