One of the ongoing challenges all organizations face is their ability to recruit and retain people with skills that align with the needs of the business. Traditionally, the difficulty has been finding people with the right skills needed at that moment in time. But the advent of AI has resulted in a new problem: we don’t know what the right skills will be in the future. Instead of focusing on being right, organizations need to be ready for the unknown.
As each day starts, headlines seem to tout new AI-related capabilities that did not exist the day before. A skill that was highly valuable yesterday quickly becomes obsolete. The original skills gap was associated with what the organization needed today versus what its people were capable of. The new skills gap is what the organization will need tomorrow versus what its people are capable of. And due to an incredibly dynamic environment, we are trying to close a skills gap while the finish line is constantly moving. According to LinkedIn's 2025 Work Change Report, 70% of the skills used in most jobs will change by 2030. So how do we avoid having the wrong assumptions about what skills really matter?
A hybrid model of work
As the transformational capabilities of AI begin to take shape, the work of redesigning work is becoming a prominent topic of discussion across a variety of disciplines. HR, Operations, IT and Finance are beginning to recognize the need to collaborate on a new paradigm that automates the administrative, outsources the optional and enhances the efficiency of the human workforce. A new hybrid model of work is evolving in which people and machines will collaborate to accomplish feats of productivity previously perceived to be impossible.
Future-proof versus future-ready
Despite advanced aggregation tools and sophisticated technologies, no one can reliably predict the future. Organizations therefore need to prepare for a variety of futures, including the ability to sustain an adaptable workforce that can maintain relevant skills as the environment shifts around them. This will require a focus on three essential dimensions: foundational, emerging and adaptive skills.
Previous connotations associated with “soft skills” are being replaced with the idea that these skills are truly foundational. If AI is handling transactional tasks, humans will need skills around communication, collaboration and critical thinking. The emerging category will be the hardest to stay on top of due to our ever-changing environment. Today’s emerging skills include digital literacy, AI fluency and analytical capabilities. The final category of adaptive skills is unquestionably the most important. The ability to learn, unlearn, relearn and adapt to change will be the main differentiator between those willing to embrace change and those who fight it.
Training is not the answer
The logical assumption most organizations make is that they should invest in upskilling, reskilling and cross-skilling opportunities in order to give their employee population access to a wide range of training and educational resources. This shotgun approach will always be ineffective as it is impossible to give every employee the skills they need for the future when we have no idea what those skills are yet. The scale of the challenge makes the limitations of traditional training even more apparent. The World Economic Forum estimates that 59 out of every 100 workers will need reskilling or upskilling by 2030, but almost 20% of them are unlikely to receive it. Instead, the goal should be to develop a culture of flexibility where the workforce is willing and able to adapt quickly as the future takes shape.
It is unrealistic to develop a definite list of the skills we will need in 2030. So instead of minding the gap between the skills we have and the skills we need, we would be better served to address the gap between how fast work is changing and how fast our people can adjust and acclimate. The temptation may be to lean on conventional change management methodologies. Instead, organizations should embrace data-driven strategic workforce planning tools that provide an on-going view of the needs of the business and the skills of the workforce. According to author and futurist Alvin Toffer, “The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn”. This arguably applies to both individuals and organizations.
