World Economic Forum Report: AI Could Create 78 Million Net New Jobs by 2030

AI might end up creating more jobs than it ends - and these jobs in particular should be safest

New skills to learn include AI, big data, networks and cybersecurity The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released its latest report on the future of jobs, staing AI might actually create more jobs than it destroys. The prospect that artificial intelligence could be beneficial to the labor market goes against initial concerns surrounding the technology, and echoes findings from other studies that have been published since the public preview launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, which is credited with starting the AI boom. WEF's report not only suggests that a net job increase could happen, but it also explores the changing landscape and evolving skills demand. We've recently heard from AI and ML expert Tak Lo that artificial intelligence will lead to "net job creation [and] new job creation," but official WEF documentation confirming this should be music to the ears of skeptics. By the end of the decade, the report predicted AI will displace 92 million roles, however the creation of 170 million jobs will result in a net creation of 78 million positions. The total amount of new roles set to be created equates to around 14% of today's total employment. "As we enter 2025, the landscape of work continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Transformational breakthroughs, particularly in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), are reshaping industries and tasks across all sectors," said WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi. The report reveals a big emphasis on AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy skills, which are said to be the fastest growing, while predicting the demise of clerical and secretarial roles as a result of automation. On the flip side, some of the safest roles include manual labor, such as farmers, laborers and truck drivers. As for knowledge workers, software and application developers look to be the safest from AI's impacts. Employers are also still looking for workers with traditional skill sets, like analytical thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, leadership and social influence. To that point, WEF expects two-fifths (39%) of the current skill sets to be "transformed or become outdated" between now and 2030. Looking ahead, WEF's research suggests more than three in four (77%) companies are planning to implement retraining programs to support their workers, while 70% intend to hire AI specialists, highlighting the importance of upskilling in that area.

AI could create 78 million more jobs than it eliminates by 2030 -- report

On Wednesday, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Future of Jobs Report 2025, with CNN immediately highlighting the finding that 40 percent of companies plan workforce reductions due to AI automation. But the report's broader analysis paints a far more nuanced picture than CNN's headline suggests: It finds that AI could create 170 million new jobs globally while eliminating 92 million positions, resulting in a net increase of 78 million jobs by 2030. "Half of employers plan to re-orient their business in response to AI," writes the WEF in the report. "Two-thirds plan to hire talent with specific AI skills, while 40% anticipate reducing their workforce where AI can automate tasks." The survey collected data from 1,000 companies that employ 14 million workers globally. The WEF conducts its employment analysis every two years to help policymakers, business leaders, and workers make decisions about hiring trends. The new report points to specific skills that will dominate hiring by 2030. Companies ranked AI and big data expertise, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy as the three most in-demand skill sets. The WEF identified AI as the biggest potential job creator among new technologies, with 86 percent of companies expecting AI to transform their operations by 2030. The WEF report also identifies specific job categories facing decline. Postal service clerks, executive secretaries, and payroll staff top the list of shrinking roles, with changes driven by factors including (but not limited to) AI adoption. And for the first time, graphic designers and legal secretaries appear among the fastest-declining positions, which the WEF tentatively links to generative AI's expanding capabilities in creative and administrative work.

41% of employers worldwide say they’ll reduce staff by 2030 due to AI

The World Economic Forum released its bi-annual survey on what employers worldwide expect their businesses to look like in the future and much of the attention is on generative AI. And while a majority (77%) expect to help train their existing staff to work with AI, 41% say they expect to reduce the number of staff they employ as AI automates more tasks on the job. The survey includes 1,000 employers worldwide, which covers more than 14 million workers in 22 different industry clusters, according to the new report. One of the big problems that emerges from the survey is that employers believe many of their workers don't have the skills needed to do their jobs as technology evolves. "AI and big data top the list of fastest-growing skills, followed closely by networks and cybersecurity as well as technology literacy," according to the report. "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 seems to be very bad news for graphic designers and legal secretaries, two jobs that employers will apparently need fewer of in the future, presumably due to AI. "The presence of both Graphic Designers and Legal Secretaries just outside the top 10 fastest-declining job roles, a first-time prediction not seen in previous editions of the Future of Jobs Report, may illustrate GenAI’s increasing capacity to perform knowledge work," the report states. Generative artificial intelligence tools are now able to create elaborate graphics with just a few text prompts, though the tech is controversial since it's little more than a plagiarism machine. "Job decline in both roles is seen as driven by both AI and information processing technologies as well as by broadening digital access. This is a major change from the report’s 2023 edition, when Graphic Designers were considered a moderately growing job and Legal Secretaries did not feature in the expected job growth/decline list," the report continues. Employers say they believe attracting employees will involve an emphasis on health and well-being, a rather nebulous category to begin with, but certainly, a sentiment that many in the U.S. can understand, given our fundamentally broken healthcare system. The U.S. is the only wealthy country in the world that hasn't achieved universal health care coverage and having health insurance is largely tied to having a job. The good news? The survey predicts a net growth in the number of jobs created over the next five years, even with AI advances. "Extrapolating from the predictions shared by Future of Jobs Survey respondents, on current trends over the 2025 to 2030 period job creation and destruction due to structural labour-market transformation will amount to 22% of today’s total jobs," the report states. "This is expected to entail the creation of new jobs equivalent to 14% of today’s total employment, amounting to 170 million jobs," the report continues. "However, this growth is expected to be offset by the displacement of the equivalent of 8% (or 92 million) of current jobs, resulting in net growth of 7% of total employment, or 78 million jobs." The report emphasizes that even though technology is expected to help productivity around the world, the humans who are using that tech are expected to be more productive. "Importantly, this analysis only compares the 2025 and 2030 proportions of total task delivery attributable to human employees, technology or collaboration between the two, respectively, and does not consider the potential change in the absolute amount of work tasks (output) getting done," the report states. "In other words, both machines and humans might be significantly more productive in 2030â€"performing more or higher value tasks in the same or less amount of time than it would have taken them to do so in 2025â€"so any concern about humans 'running out of things to do' due to automation would be misplaced." That, of course, is small consolation to graphic designers. But it will hopefully turn out to be true for other occupations, especially since AI has proved to be incredibly dumb and needs a lot of babysitting to make sure it doesn't mess up any number of tasks.

41% of global firms plan layoffs by 2030 due to AI

According to a World Economic Forum survey, 41% of global firms plan to implement workforce reductions by 2030 as a result of advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). The survey indicates a trend toward significant workforce changes as companies look to integrate AI into their strategies between 2025 and 2030. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report reveals that 77% of the surveyed companies intend to retrain and upskill their existing workforce to work alongside AI systems. Unlike prior reports, this year's findings do not forecast AI as a net positive for job creation. Approximately 70% of companies are seeking to hire employees with expertise in AI tool design and development, while 62% aim to recruit individuals capable of effectively interacting with AI technologies. The report highlights the impact of generative AI on the job market, particularly affecting administrative and creative roles. Tech industry became plagued with ghost jobs Positions such as postal service clerks, executive secretaries, and payroll clerks are expected to see the most significant declines due to AI integration. Notably, graphic designers and legal secretaries are mentioned for the first time as among the fastest-declining job roles, attributed to AI's increasing capacity to perform knowledge-based tasks. The report underlines that companies are focusing on creating an AI-augmented workplace that enhances human capabilities rather than fully replacing human workers. Emphasis is placed on human-machine collaboration, showcasing the continued relevance of human-centered skills.

4 in 10 companies planning job cuts due to AI: Survey

Companies across the globe, at least four in 10, are likely to cut jobs as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance, new research shows. A survey in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) latest "Future of Jobs Report," found that because of the "increasing capability and prevalence" of AI, 41 percent of employers surveyed said they will shrink their workforce within the next five years if the technology is able to replicate the work. "As we enter 2025, the landscape of work continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Transformational breakthroughs, particularly in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), are reshaping industries and tasks across all sectors," WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said in the report. "These technological advances, however, are converging with a broader array of challenges, including economic volatility, geoeconomic realignments, environmental challenges and evolving societal expectations," she added. The WEF's survey also found that 77 percent of employers surveyed said they will adopt the strategy of "reskilling and upskilling" their existing workforce to work alongside artificial intelligence. AI has captured the world's attention in recent years, with the release of products like OpenAI's ChatGPT in November 2022, shaking up preconceived notions about how it can be used in the workplace. In a survey published last fall from the New York Federal Reserve's Liberty Street Economics blog, 43 percent of Americans said they believe generative AI tools will shrink jobs as the technology advances. The "Future of Jobs Report" survey included research from 1,043 companies, compiled between May and September 2024.