The World Economic Forum has released its annual Future of Jobs Report for 2023 and it makes for some interesting reading, not only for employers but for younger people who have yet to decide upon a career path.
One of the most interesting parts of the report looks at the jobs market outlook for the next five years (2023 to 2027). During that time, 69 million jobs are expected to be created—but 89 million jobs are expected to be lost. That’s a net loss of 14 million jobs, or 2% of the ones available today.
Of course, some industries will be winners, seeing more jobs created than today, while other industries will be losers, suffering a net loss of the jobs that are available today. And as you might have assumed already, technology will be a big driver behind the jobs that are both created and lost.
So if you’ve yet to choose a career path, as far as jobs are concerned, what’s a good choice and what’s a bad choice? According to the World Economic Forum’s report, the jobs that businesses expect to grow the most relative to the existing proportion of their labor force for today are:
- AI and Machine Learning Specialists
- Sustainability Specialists
- Business Intelligence Analysts
- Information Security Analysts
- FinTech Engineers
- Data Analysts and Scientists
- Robotics Engineers
- Big Data Specialists
- Agricultural Equipment Operators
- Digital Transformation Specialists
All of the above jobs are expected to see available roles increase by at least 25% or more over current numbers in the next five years. But what about the jobs that businesses expect to decline the most relative to the existing proportion of their current labor force? Those jobs are:
- Bank Tellers and Related Clerks
- Postal Service Clerks
- Cashiers and Ticket Clerks
- Data Entry Clerks
- Administrative and Executive Secretaries
- Material-Recording and Stock-Keeping Clerks
- Accounting, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Clerks
- Legislators and Officials
- Statistical, Finance, and Insurance Clerks
- Door-to-Door Sales Workers
As you can see from the list, many of the most vulnerable jobs are those that can be replaced by AI or automation—the exact technologies that originate from the jobs that are expected to see the most relative growth in the next five years.
If you are going into the workforce in the near future, WEF also looked at what skills organizations currently consider to be “core” skills—that is, the sets of skills that businesses value most. The top most valued skill was analytical thinking, followed by creative thinking. Resilience, flexibility, and agility; motivation and self-awareness; and curiosity and lifelong learning round out the top five core skill sets.
You can check out the World Economic Forum’s full Future of Jobs Report 2023 here.
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