According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), technological advancements - particularly in artificial intelligence (AI) - will profoundly impact the labour market, resulting in a net gain of 78 million new jobs by 2030. As stated in the report, these shifts will bring about a significant transformation in labour markets, driven by a combination of automation, AI advancements, demographic changes, and economic pressures.

According to a WEF poll of 1,000 businesses, 41% of employers plan to cut staff as a result of automation of processes that formerly required human intervention, which will impact repetitive work. Due to AI’s ability to accomplish identical duties more efficiently, office workers, mainly in the design industry, will be in considerably lower demand.

On the flip side, AI is predicted to create substantial job opportunities in fields such as AI research, cybersecurity, renewable energy, and “big data” (the analysis of massive datasets). Additionally, there will be a growing demand for practical professions in the fields of agriculture, education, food and retail.

Moreover, projections indicate that 59% of the workforce will need to undergo professional retraining by 2030 in order to remain employable. Without such training, over 120 million workers could face job loss due to ‘skill obsolescence’.

Furthermore, 63% of companies identified ‘skill mismatches’ as their greatest challenge to staying competitive. The report underscores that this lack of appropriate training and skill development will remain the primary obstacle to successful business transformation in the next years.