Tech sector offers fastest growing jobs

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 09/01/2025

Technology-related jobs are the fastest- growing jobs. This includes Big Data Specialists, Fintech Engineers, AI and Machine Learning Specialists and Software and Application Developers, according to World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2025. Green and energy transition roles, including Autonomous and Electric Vehicle Specialists, Environmental Engineers, and Renewable Energy Engineers are also among the top fastest-growing roles.

Half of employers plan to reorient their business in response to AI, two-thirds plan to hire talent with specific AI skills, while 40% anticipate reducing their workforce where AI can automate tasks.

Clerical and Secretarial Workers – including Cashiers and Ticket Clerks, and Administrative Assistants and Executive Secretaries – are expected to see the largest decline in absolute numbers. 

Similarly, businesses expect the fastest-declining roles to include Postal Service Clerks, Bank Tellers and Data Entry Clerks.

“On average, workers can expect that two-fifths (39%) of their existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the 2025-2030 period.” 

“Analytical thinking remains the most sought- after core skill among employers, with seven out of 10 companies considering it as essential in 2025. This is followed by resilience, flexibility and agility, along with leadership and social influence.”

AI and big data top the list of fastest-growing skills, followed closely by networks and cybersecurity as well as technology literacy. 

“Complementing these technology-related skills, creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, along with curiosity and lifelong learning, are also expected to continue to rise in importance over the 2025-2030 period.” 

The report says that if the world’s workforce was made up of 100 people, 59 would need training by 2030. Of these, employers foresee that 29 could be upskilled in their current roles and 19 could be upskilled and redeployed elsewhere within their organisation. 11 would be unlikely to receive the reskilling or upskilling needed, leaving their jobs at risk.

Skill gaps are categorically considered the biggest barrier to business transformation by Future of Jobs Survey respondents, with 63% of employers identifying them as a major barrier over the 2025- 2030 period. 

85% of employers plan to prioritise upskilling their workforce, with 70% of employers expecting to hire staff with new skills, 40% planning to reduce staff as their skills become less relevant, and 50% planning to transition staff from declining to growing roles.

Supporting employee health and well-being is expected to be a top focus for talent attraction, with 64% of employers surveyed identifying it as a key strategy to increase talent availability. 

Effective reskilling and upskilling initiatives, along with improving talent progression and promotion, are also seen as holding high potential for talent attraction. Funding for – and provision of – reskilling and upskilling are seen as the two most welcomed public policies to boost talent availability.

The report also finds that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives remain on the rise. The potential for expanding talent availability by tapping into diverse talent pools is highlighted by four times more employers (47%) than two years ago (10%). 

“Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have become more prevalent, with 83% of employers reporting such an initiative in place, compared to 67% in 2023. Such initiatives are particularly popular for companies headquartered in North America, with a 96% uptake rate, and for employers with over 50,000 employees (95%).”

By 2030, just over half of employers (52%) anticipate allocating a greater share of their revenue to wages, with only 7% expecting this share to decline. Wage strategies are driven primarily by goals of aligning wages with workers’ productivity and performance and competing for retaining talent and skills. 

Broadening digital access is expected to be the most transformative trend – both across technology-related trends and overall – with 60% of employers expecting it to transform their business by 2030. 

Advancements in technologies, particularly AI and information processing (86%); robotics and automation (58%); and energy generation, storage and distribution (41%), are also expected to be transformative. 

Increasing cost of living ranks as the second- most transformative trend overall – and the top trend related to economic conditions – with half of employers expecting it to transform their business by 2030, despite an anticipated reduction in global inflation. 

General economic slowdown, to a lesser extent, also remains top of mind and is expected to transform 42% of businesses. Inflation is predicted to have a mixed outlook for net job creation to 2030, while slower growth is expected to displace 1.6 million jobs globally. These two impacts on job creation are expected to increase the demand for creative thinking and resilience, flexibility, and agility skills.

Climate-change mitigation is the third-most transformative trend overall – and the top trend related to the green transition – while climate-change adaptation ranks sixth with 47% and 41% of employers, respectively, expecting these trends to transform their business in the next five years. 

Frontline job roles are predicted to see the largest growth in absolute terms of volume and include Farmworkers, Delivery Drivers, Construction Workers, Salespersons, and Food Processing Workers. Care economy jobs, such as Nursing Professionals, Social Work and Counselling Professionals and Personal Care Aides are also expected to grow significantly over the next five years, alongside Education roles such as Tertiary and Secondary Education Teachers.