Which Skills Will Matter in Tomorrow's Working World?

Artificial intelligence, automation, the green transition, digitalisation. As we approach the second quarter of the 21st century, the world of work is changing at a pace without precedent in history. That change makes it essential for people to transform not only their profession but their skills.

According to the World Economic Forum's 2025 report, 40% of occupations will be transformed within the next five years; some will disappear while entirely new fields emerge. This change makes it essential for people to transform not only their profession but their skills.

As ways of working, occupations and production structures change in today's world, the HUMAN BEING at the centre of all that change is changing too — and is obliged to.

With change moving this fast, the competencies the business world needs are shifting as well. A role can arrive somewhere entirely different within five years, and the candidates sought for it may be asked for entirely different competencies. Employees today need the harmony of skill, knowledge and attitude far more than before.

Considering artificial intelligence's likely effect on employment in particular, the future of work will not be human or machine, but human and machine. Both employees and employers should therefore focus on competencies in order to make a difference.

A Global Perspective

The world's leading institutions are examining this transformation closely. Reports published in recent years by bodies such as the WEF, the OECD, UNESCO and McKinsey form common ground on the skills the future workforce will need. What they share is an emphasis that technical skills alone are not enough: human-centred competencies such as thinking, communication, ethics and adaptation have become just as important.

• WEF (Future of Jobs 2025): analytical thinking, creativity and flexibility are the three most sought-after competencies of the future. Artificial intelligence, data science and digital design skills also stand out.
• OECD (Learning Compass 2030): learning to learn, creating value and responsible citizenship come to the fore as core concepts. Education systems, the report argues, need to give people a sense of direction in their learning. It holds that individuals should focus not on academic success alone but on the whole of their human, digital and social competencies.
• UNESCO (The Futures We Build): the globalisation of production, trade, consumption and culture has profoundly affected how work is organised in our societies. Alongside people's knowledge and skills, it has significantly affected labour markets and the ways we relate to knowledge. While this trend has created new job opportunities, it has also laid bare the heavy costs of globalisation.
• McKinsey (Future of Work, 2025): under the impact of automation, 375 million people worldwide will need to be reskilled by 2030. Projections about the future of work show demand rising for workers in STEM-related, healthcare and other high-skill occupations, while demand falls for office workers, production workers and customer service representatives. By 2030, up to 30 per cent of current working hours could be automated, accelerated by generative artificial intelligence.

International reports converge on seven core skill groups for the worker of the future:

1. Digital and data literacy
2. Analytical thinking and problem solving
3. Creativity and innovation
4. Adaptation and the capacity to learn
5. Communication
6. Self-management and entrepreneurship
7. Ethics, sustainability and global citizenship

The Turkish perspective: the WEF report's key findings for Türkiye are as follows.

• The spread of digital access stands out as one of the main factors that will transform the labour market over the 2025-2030 period.
• Among the occupations set to be most in demand in Türkiye are robotics engineers, renewable energy engineers, and autonomous and electric vehicle specialists.
• Employers expect 44% of the skills used on the job in Türkiye to change by 2030 (the global average is 39%).
• Artificial intelligence and big data, technological literacy, and networks and cybersecurity stand out as the fastest-growing skills, while the importance of multilingualism is expected to rise above the global average.

In conclusion:

The technological products we use today were yesterday's dream.

"The Tahtelbahir, commissioned by Sultan Ahmed III in the Ottoman period and the world's first submarine, was itself a product of imagination and curiosity. This craft, which the public saw for the first time at a festival in 1719, was designed by the shipyard's chief architect, İbrahim Efendi. Four or five people could remain inside the vessel, which could submerge and surface, for hours. Built in 1719 and named Tahtelbahir, it went down in history as the world's first submarine."

With Einstein's advice — dream, do not shy away from what is hard, do not stand by as a spectator — we wish you a year rich in imagination, knowledge and energy.