The world of work is being rewritten
170 million new jobs are coming, but many workers won’t recognize them.
The labor market has been in turmoil for several years, and according to a new report by the World Economic Forum, the pace of change is only set to accelerate. The report, published on Wednesday, finds that over the next five years, 22% of all existing jobs are expected to change fundamentally, disappear, or be re-created.
Despite the upheaval, the report, based on a survey of more than 1,000 leading employers worldwide, strikes a cautiously optimistic tone. It projects the creation of 170 million new jobs alongside the disappearance of 92 million, resulting in a net gain of 78 million jobs globally. The path to that outcome, however, is expected to be turbulent and will demand rapid adaptation, an adjustment not everyone will manage to make.
According to the report, the roles most vulnerable to disruption are those built around repetitive tasks. Postal clerks, bank tellers, data entry clerks, cashiers, administrative managers, and accountants are among the professions expected to be hit hardest, as artificial intelligence increasingly replaces routine work. Public transport inspectors, store clerks, graphic designers, and appraisers are also identified as being at elevated risk.
By contrast, the fastest-growing professions are concentrated in technology-driven fields. Big data specialists, fintech engineers, AI and machine-learning experts, software and application developers, and automation and autonomous-vehicle specialists top the list. Demand is also expected to rise for UX and UI designers, environmental and climate engineers, and workers in renewable energy.
Perhaps surprisingly, the number of jobs for light-truck drivers and delivery drivers is also projected to grow in absolute terms. The report attributes this to the “last-mile” problem in logistics. While moving goods between countries or cities is increasingly automated, and may soon involve autonomous trucks, the most complex and costly part remains delivering items to customers’ doors. Navigating dense urban environments, dealing with double parking, intercom systems, stairs without elevators, or ambiguous delivery instructions continues to pose challenges that machines struggle to handle. As online shopping expands faster than autonomous technology matures, demand for human drivers and couriers is expected to remain strong.
Beyond technology roles, the list of growing occupations also includes non-technical jobs such as e-commerce specialists, strategic consultants, restaurant and hotel managers, social services workers, and nursing care professionals. On the list of declining professions, alongside accountants, are legal secretaries, legal clerks, cleaning workers, chemical engineers, and security personnel. Human resources specialists and lawyers rank close to bus and truck drivers in terms of the risk of job displacement.
One of the report’s most troubling findings concerns the skills workers currently possess. Employers estimate that nearly 40% of workers’ core skills, those widely required across roles and considered baseline qualifications, will change in the coming years. Israel ranks sixth globally in the share of core skills expected to change, at 43%, trailing Turkey, Portugal, Colombia, Zimbabwe, and Egypt. In comparison, the figure stands at 35% in the United States and just 28% in Denmark, which ranks lowest.
At the top of the skills expected to be in highest demand over the next five years is analytical thinking. Despite advances in artificial intelligence, employers continue to value the human ability to interpret context, weigh trade-offs, and make ethical or strategic judgments. As data volumes grow, so does the need for people who know which questions to ask.
Second on the list are resilience, flexibility, and agility, traits that have become essential in a world shaped by pandemics, economic shocks, and rapid technological change. Third are leadership and social influence, defined as the ability to motivate others, persuade, and build collaboration. Creative thinking ranks fourth, followed by motivation and self-awareness in fifth place. Technological literacy comes sixth, followed by empathy and active listening, talent management, and service orientation.
Looking ahead, the fastest-growing skills, the areas where employers are investing most heavily, are AI and big data, cybersecurity, and technological literacy. Not everyone will need to become a programmer, but nearly everyone will need to know how to work with technology. These are followed by creative thinking, resilience and adaptability, and then curiosity and continuous learning.
By contrast, the skills in steepest decline are basic physical abilities, such as manual precision, lifting, and sorting, and simple cognitive tasks like basic arithmetic and data entry. These are precisely the areas in which algorithms and robotics already outperform humans in both cost and efficiency.
