What Skills Will Be Relevant in 2030?

This is the second in a series of three articles on the future of work. In the first, I looked at the future of hiring. In this piece, I explore what skills will be relevant in the next decade.

Experts have estimated how many roles are likely to be lost to robots. While the numbers hitting the headlines are significant, it seems that the consensus is that technology has proved to be a creator rather than a destroyer of jobs. According to a PwC study across 200,000 jobs in 29 countries, AI will create more jobs than it destroys, so the impact will be net neutral or net positive.

More repetitive, lower-skilled jobs are likely to be more at risk, particularly in countries where labour is expensive, while many roles are quite broad and the reality is that AIs are still too “narrow” and focused on specific tasks to completely replace them.

I try not to be too directive about what my children learn but I do wonder what work will look like for them in 15 years’ time and how they can be prepared. For now, I think it’s sufficient for children to be curious, to have confidence in using technology, and to embrace any aspects of learning that interest them. Through every period of accelerated technological progress, curiosity has served people well.

I don’t think the future is all about coders. In fact, technology is becoming more and more accessible so that people can orchestrate and create technical products with simple interfaces and no knowledge of coding. The world will need people who can think about how to use different technologies, people who can engage and enrich the human experience creatively. There will be huge demand for people who can understand the possibility of technologies like AI, see patterns, and use that to innovate and create new opportunities.

We talk about the importance of “digital fluency”, this isn’t about in-depth technical knowledge but about being up to date with emerging technologies in your industry and knowing how to leverage them to solve problems, improve the customer experience, or reduce costs. This kind of fluency is what I think will continue to be important for people entering the workplace, and for all of us as we consider how to keep our skillsets relevant. Being adaptable and open will continue to matter: the start-up concept of “pivoting” remains powerful. If we can be prepared to fail and try something new, it will sustain innovation and keep us relevant.