As businesses navigate a rapidly evolving workforce, one truth is becoming increasingly clear: durable skills are the backbone of long-term career success. The World Economic Forum (WEF) Future of Jobs (FOJ) Report 2025 reaffirms what America Succeeds has long championed—employers value durable skills immensely, and will continue to value them moving forward. In an era of automation and artificial intelligence, the ability to think critically, lead teams, and adapt to change is more important than ever.
Durable Skills: The Growing Workforce Imperative
WEF’s analysis reveals a clear narrative: durable skills are core workforce skills in 2025 and, along with AI and technological literacy skills, will continue to be of increasing use as we move towards 2030 (WEF FOJ Report 2025, Skills of Increasing Use by 2030). Employers worldwide recognize that skills such as analytical thinking, resilience, adaptability, and collaboration are essential for success. America Succeeds’ research in partnership with Lightcast further underscores this trend, showing that eight of the top ten most requested skills in job postings are durable skills (unpublished 2022-2023 durable skills demand data).
The Core Skills of 2030: A Convergence of Global Trends and the Impact of Education Innovation
Looking ahead, the WEF predicts that the most crucial skills for 2030 will center around cognitive skills, engagement, self-efficacy, and working with others (WEF FOJ Report 2025, Core Skills in 2030). This graph shows that eight of the ten “core skills of 2030,” skills that are core now and expected to increase in use by 2030, are durable skills. This aligns directly with America Succeeds’ durable skills framework, which emphasizes these skills as foundational competencies for career growth. Additionally, findings from America Succeeds’ Empowering Learners for School, Work, and Life Part 1 highlight how innovative schools are integrating these skills through project-based learning, competency-based assessments, and real-world engagement. The work that education systems undergo to prioritize the development of these skills is critical to building a talent pipeline rife with the competencies that employers are demanding at an increasing rate.
The Skills on the Rise: What Employers Are Prioritizing
The WEF’s data on skills increasing in importance from 2025-2030 highlights durable skills explicitly. Aside from technological competencies like AI skills, cybersecurity skills, and technological literacy, the report shows that creative thinking, metacognitive skills, leadership, and growth mindset are the skills employers report will increase in importance the most. (WEF FOJ Report 2025, Skills on the Rise). America Succeeds has found similar trends in the U.S. labor market, where communication, leadership, metacognition, critical thinking, collaboration, and character skills are each requested on at least ~15,000,000 job postings nationwide (unpublished 2022-2023 durable skills demand data).
AI & Automation: Why Durable Skills Are More Critical Than Ever
As businesses integrate AI and technology into daily operations, one might assume that technical skills will dominate workforce needs. However, the WEF report finds that while the percentage of tasks completed by technology rather than humans will increase by 2030, around 66% of all tasks will still require human skills or be completed by a combination of humans and technology (WEF FOJ Report 2025, Technology in Task Completion).
Technology and technological skills are critical to the future workforce, however they are complementary rather than replacements for durable human skills. America Succeeds’ perspective reinforces this: the most resilient and adaptable workers are those who combine technical expertise with strong durable skills. AI can automate processes and assist in decision-making, but it cannot fully replace human judgment, empathy, leadership, creative problem-solving, and other critical durable skills. Research from the No Worker Left Behind (NWLB) Report further supports this, emphasizing that workers who lack durable skills face significant barriers to long-term career success, regardless of their technical competencies.
Closing the Skills Gap: What Employers and Educators Must Do
The WEF report identifies key public policies that “respondents agree… has the greatest potential to increase talent availability,” such as upskilling initiatives, flexible hiring practices, and improvements to public education systems (WEF FOJ Report 2025, Policies to Improve Talent). America Succeeds echoes this call to action: businesses, educators, and policymakers must work together to ensure that durable skills development is integrated into education, workforce training, and hiring practices.
Here’s how we move forward:
- Employers should explicitly integrate durable skills into hiring, training, and professional development programs.
- Educators and curriculum providers must design curricula that prioritize durable skills alongside technical competencies. The RPC Phase I Report provides several case studies of schools intentionally focusing on durable skills development through interest-driven learning and competency-based assessments.
- Policymakers should fund and support upskilling initiatives that focus on the core skills of today and tomorrow: durable skills. Additionally, state and federal policymakers should incentivize partnerships between education institutions and industry leaders to ensure that workforce development programs are aligned with evolving employer needs.
The Future of Work Is Human
Both the WEF and America Succeeds’ research sends a clear message: durable skills are the foundation of long-term career success. While technical skills will continue to evolve, the ability to think critically, collaborate effectively, and lead with empathy will remain indispensable.
As businesses compete for top talent and workers seek future-proof careers, durable skills will define who succeeds in the workplace of tomorrow. It’s time to act—education, workforce training, and hiring practices must reflect the undeniable value of durable skills in the modern economy.Want to learn more about how America Succeeds is advocating for integrating durable skills into education and workforce practices? Visit www.AmericaSucceeds.org and join the movement to prepare every learner for the future of work.
