World Economic Forum: 2023 Skills for 2023 – 2027

The report from WEF (World Economic Forum) finally came out this year and I spent the afternoon reading the report. Usually, they put out a report every two years and have been doing that since 2016, but then there was a pause during 2022, probably due to the pandemic.

So, now they are catching up and adding a little bit about AI.

There’s a lot of stuff in the news about AI and its impact on job. While the mood fluctuates from pessimism to optimism, the current state feels like it is pessimistic.

Unsurprisingly, the report says that over the next five years, there will be a lot of business transformation coming out of technological advancement, the green industry, climate change, the ESG initiatives. There is also uncertainty arising from geopolitical tensions and the current economic doldrums stemming from supply constraints and inflation.

The digital transformation will probably be coming from the area of big data, cloud computing, and AI.

But I really want to focus on skills because that is the one area an individual can do something about. But there is one thing I want to caution: the report’s conclusions are arrived at from a survey of the world’s largest corporations. So, the skills required over the next 5 years will be what the largest corporations want, not what would be best for the individual. That is something to keep in mind. Skills for their advantage and not to yours.

1 Analytical Thinking

Topping the list is analytical thinking which is “capacity to break down concepts and complex ideas into basic or fundamental principles”, according to WEF’s Skills Taxonomy of 2021.

To me, a close cousin is critical thinking: “capacity to analyze and interpret facts and information to make sound judgements”. Being able to make sound judgements is going to be important in a world of proliferating misinformation and disinformation.

Analytical thinking and critical thinking seem to swap from report to report.

2 Creative Thinking

From Skills Taxonomy 2021: “capacity to bring a new idea or concept into existence through imagination and to imagine something that does not exist.”

This one seems to be a perennial one that jumps around in ranking, but I think in the last few years, this one has come to the forefront. Companies are often looking for innovative thinking and new ways to use digital tools.

The problem is companies also often shoot down new ideas. It’s sort of a love/hate relationship with creativity and innovation. I don’t know if the current economic downturn is going to cause companies to batten down the hatches rather than go forth and explore.

Doing something creative involves risk.

3 Resilience, flexibility and agility

Yes, figured this one would turn up with the advent of a lot of new digital tools, with AI being the latest one. The firehose of change is definitely calling for resilience. And now AI might cause massive disruption.

4 Motivation and self-awareness

This one appears new. I don’t recall seeing motivation as part of the top 10 skills or aptitude unless it was kind of part of emotional intelligence or self-management. So, corporations want employees to maintain motivation while executives lay off people, possibly to be replaced for good by machines?

5 Curiosity and lifelong learning

I think this one is new too, although I have heard both of these ad nauseam for a long time but just outside of the WEF skills discussion. With the continual changes that we will be facing over the next 5 to 10 years, it should be no surprise that we are going to have to dredge up curiosity and the desire to continuously learn.

6 Technological Literacy

I presume this encompasses being able to use digital tools and pick up on how to use them in your work environment. Again, this is no surprise.

7 Dependability and attention to detail

Okay, this one is a bit of a surprise and I wonder if this arises out of sloppiness or general lack of attention to one’s work. I don’t know but this one appears new too.

8 Empathy and active listening

Hmm, this skillset is one senior executives could use a lot of. This and number 3.

9 Leadership and social influence

Looking at the Skills Taxonomy, this one is about “having an impact on others in the organization and displaying energy and leadership. Leadership is defined as a quality that can be possessed by anyone, regardless of their function within an organization.”

Associated with this leadership and social influence is empathy, persuasion and negotiation, liaising and networking, demonstrating consideration, ethical leadership and building trust.

10 Quality control

This feels like it is tied to #7 – dependability and attention to details, so I’m left with a feeling that there were a lot of shoddy work so quality control needs to be imposed. Maybe we got slack during the pandemic.

What’s missing?

Entrepreneurship. That’s what is missing. Companies may not feel they need this, but individuals do, very badly. And maybe along with that: marketing, brand marketing, design and analytics.