## The Jobs of Tomorrow

_IMF Blog, January 7, 2021_

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**Canonical URL:** [The Jobs of Tomorrow](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2021/01/07/the-jobs-of-tomorrow)

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: The Editors
- Published: January 7, 2021

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### Overview
- The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2020 maps the jobs and skills of the future based on surveys of business leaders and human resource strategists worldwide.
- The report places pandemic-related disruptions in the broader context of longer-term technology trends and identifies a “double-disruption” for workers from automation and the COVID-19 recession.
- Five key findings are highlighted from the report.

### Faster-than-expected automation and workforce displacement
- The workforce is automating faster than expected, displacing 85 million jobs in the next five years.
- Companies’ adoption of technology will transform tasks, jobs, and skills by 2025.
- Employers’ planned responses to technology integration:
  - 43 percent of businesses surveyed indicate that they are set to reduce their workforce because of technology integration.
  - 41 percent plan to expand their use of contractors for task-specialized work.
  - 34 percent plan to expand their workforce as a result of technology integration.
- Projection: Five years from now, employers will divide work between humans and machines roughly equally.

### Job creation from the “robot revolution”
- The robot revolution will create 97 million new jobs.
- Emerging roles will appear across:
  - the care economy,
  - technology fields (such as artificial intelligence—AI),
  - content creation careers (such as social media management and content writing).
- Emerging professions reflect demand for:
  - green economy jobs,
  - roles at the forefront of the data and AI economy,
  - new roles in engineering, cloud computing, and product development.
- Continued importance of human interaction in roles:
  - care economy,
  - marketing, sales, and content production,
  - roles requiring the ability to work with different types of people from different backgrounds.

### Skills in demand by 2025
- In 2025, analytical thinking, creativity, and flexibility will be among the most sought-after skills.
- Employers see critical thinking, analysis, and problem solving as growing in importance; these skills have been consistently cited in previous editions.
- Newly emerging important skills include self-management skills such as active learning, resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility.
- LinkedIn and Coursera metrics partnerships provided granular tracking of specialized skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow.

### Reskilling, public sector role, and employer strategies
- For workers remaining in their roles over the next five years, nearly half will need retraining for their core skills.
- The survey found that the public sector needs to provide stronger support for reskilling and upskilling of at-risk or displaced workers.
- Currently, only 21 percent of businesses report being able to make use of public funds to support their employees through retraining initiatives.
- Policy recommendations and needs:
  - Public sector must provide incentives for investment in the markets and jobs of tomorrow.
  - Offer stronger safety nets for displaced workers during job transitions.
  - Tackle long-delayed improvements of education and training systems.
- The most competitive businesses will focus on upgrading their workers’ skills.

### Remote work and digitalization
- Some 84 percent of employers are set to rapidly digitalize work processes, including a significant expansion of remote working.
- Employers say there is the potential to move 44 percent of their workforce to operate remotely.
- However, 78 percent of business leaders expect some negative impact on worker productivity, and many businesses are taking steps to help their employees adapt.

*Content originally published January 7, 2021 in Finance & Development magazine; authored by Sadia Zahidi of the World Economic Forum and republished on the IMF site.*

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## References

- [Finance & Development](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2021/01/07/the-jobs-of-tomorrow_