A joint study from Pearson, Nesta and Oxford University has found that 40 to 60 percent of workers are currently in jobs that are declining, and even those in jobs that remain will probably have to pursue training to stay employed.
HRDive reports that the study, The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030, drew on both human expertise and machine learning components. According to its findings, only 10 percent of workers are in growing occupations; seven in 10 workers are in uncertain jobs but can be prepared for the future; and interpersonal skills like teaching, customer service, persuasion and social perceptiveness are in demand.
It also reveals that using technology effectively in combination with human skills will drive productivity. Employers, according to Pearson, will have to proactively redesign jobs that otherwise might disappear.
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That might not be so easy, however, since the HRDive report points out that a recent Korn Ferry study indicates that just 27 percent of employers are capable of re-skilling workers for future jobs.
So what jobs and skills does the study predict as thriving? In the U.S., the top three listed are management occupations, business and financial operations occupations and computer and mathematical occupations. However, they're going to look very different by 2030, since the "complementary features" the study predicts as rising into prominent association with those jobs are a far cry from features that are sought at present.
For instance, current features for management occupations include administration and management, oral expression and oral comprehension. Complementary features that will have the greatest positive impact on future demand for management occupations are science; philosophy and theology; and sociology and anthropology.
For business and financial operations occupations, current features are oral comprehension, written comprehension and English language capability, while those complementary features expected to have such impact are science; philosophy and theology; and technology design.
And for computer and mathematical operations occupations, current in-demand features are computers and electronics, critical thinking and problem sensitivity; in days to come, science, technology design and design are viewed as the most complementary in promoting growth.
The study's analysis finds that in the U.S., "there is particularly strong emphasis on interpersonal skills … include[ing] teaching, social perceptiveness, service orientation, and persuasion," while other important skills include "higher-order cognitive skills such as complex problem solving, originality, fluency of ideas and active learning." It concludes that both knowledge and skills will be required for the future economy.
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