Changing landscape of skills in the age of AI

This joint report, written as part of the Inter-agency TVET group focused on skill mismatch in digitalised labour markets, focuses on the consequences of increasing adoption of AI technologies within workplaces for skill needs across a broad range of occupations. This shift is reshaping the variety and depth of different skills required from workers, often increasing the need for higher-order cognitive and socioemotional skills as well as general digital and data science skills.

The report also looks at newly emerging technical jobs to develop and maintain AI systems, which is currently small and a niche labour market, but growing rapidly as AI technologies spread. Finally, the report discusses the implications of these developments for skills policies, arguing that there is a new basic skill that everyone needs: ability to understand and use AI tools in a safe and ethical manner.

AI literacy is increasingly seen as a foundational skill – an essential enabler of human agency and inclusion in AI-augmented environments. Given the multiple labour market disruptions and fragile employment structures, citizens need to be resourceful with higher agility, resilience and adaptability to manage greater uncertainty. Skills policies need to prioritise broader ‘capabilities’ and human agency rather than narrow skills sets.

The report was drafted with inputs from Cedefop and includes substantial Cedefop evidence from Konstantinos Pouliakas and Ralph Hippe.