Transformation in the labor market: Future Skills

The buzzword “future skills” is on everyone's lips in light of the current transformations and changes in the labor market. But what do employers mean by this term, and which skills are actually in demand? This is the subject of a new study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, which evaluated 19 other studies on key skills and compared them with the demand in online job advertisements.

The study found that future skills are already sought after by employers at an above-average rate compared to other competencies. There is a particular increase in demand for interdisciplinary skills, with the higher the professional requirements, the more these skills are sought after. Job advertisements for unskilled workers mention an average of five interdisciplinary skills, while job advertisements for experts mention more than eight. The study observes an increase in these values since 2019, especially for higher levels of requirements. The demand for specific future skills also correlates with these levels: adaptability is particularly often required of unskilled workers (21% of ads), while experts should be able to demonstrate creative thinking (20%).

Differences can also be seen in terms of occupational groups. In marketing and ICT professions, the demand for critical thinking has risen particularly sharply since 2019 (by more than 3 percentage points in each case), while in health, teaching, and education professions, empathy is particularly sought after – demand here has increased by four to seven percentage points since 2019.

The study concludes that although future skills are now being promoted more specifically in some companies, widespread training measures are still lacking. The Bertelsmann Foundation is therefore calling for the foundations for future skills to be anchored in the education system.

We were also interested in the following topics:

• Eastern Germany: The proportion of East German executives in federal authorities will rise to 15% this year, the Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Germany announced last week. The Tagesspiegel knows what the situation is like in other elite positions and how executives perceive it.

• Future of work: In this year's Future of Work Trend Report, SAP focused primarily on the role of AI in the labor market of the future. SAP's Chief of Future Work Officer summarizes the key findings in an interview.

• Pensions: Almost 40% of employees currently do not plan to work until the official retirement age. A survey conducted by the German Economic Institute reveals the reasons they give for this decision.

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