According to major employers surveyed by WEF experts in 2018, the labour market will change under the influence of the internet of things, mobile and web applications, virtual reality, blockchain, 3D printing and unmanned transport. Businesses recognize the likelihood of "certain staff reduction". First of all, it threatens those who lack flexibility.
In the late 1990s, the business community introduced the term soft skills, or flexible skills. It is something that helps us learn quickly, work in teams and solve challenging tasks. Researchers from Harvard University, Stanford University and the Carnegie Endowment found out that 85% of a person's success in a career depends on flexible skills.
The authors of the report "Future Skills", experts from Global Education Futures and WorldSkills Russia, believe that seven important skills listed below will be in demand in every field in the 21st century:
- ability to concentrate – to process information and handle technology;
- digital literacy – to work in a digital environment;
- ecological mindset – to understand the integrity of the world and the role of an individual contribution to the ecosystem;
- creativity – to have an unusual approach to routine activities;
- emotional literacy – to understand ourselves and interact with others;
- multiculturalism – to get on well with people;
- learning capacity – to learn new skills.
Three skills from the list are not available for artificial intelligence so far. That means that professions that are difficult to teach a machine will live on for a long time. They require empathy, imagination, linguistic feeling, etc. The IIDF estimates that we can't do without scientists, robotics and oil and gas engineers, cybersecurity, database and blockchain specialists, teachers, managers and risk management specialists. There are several trends that help to predict the emergence of new professions which can be taken into account when planning a career or business development.