It’s clear the United States job market is in candidates’ favor. According to the World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs Report 2018,” talent availability is the driving force of organizations’ job location decisions in every industry except energy utilities and technologies.
Technology Adoption
Technology is a major culprit of the skills gap. And the report shows the top technologies being adopted by US companies:
- User and entity big data analytics (89%)
- Internet of things (80%)
- App- and web-enabled markets (76%)
- Machine learning (75%)
- Cloud computing (71%)
- Augmented and virtual reality (66%)
- Encryption (60%)
- Digital trade (57%)
- Wearable electronics (56%)
- New materials (55%)
- Distributed ledger (blockchain) (52%)
- 3D printing (47%)
- Stationary robots (44%)
- Autonomous transport (43%)
- Quantum computing (41%)
- Non-humanoid land robots (38%)
- Humanoid robots (25%)
- Biotechnology (25%)
- Aerial and underwater robots (22%)
Shifting Skills
Work in the United States is changing. Due to the adoption of new technologies, emerging roles in the United States workforce include:
- Software and applications developers and analysts
- Data analysts and scientists
- Managing directors and chief executives
- General and operations managers
- Sales and marketing professionals
- Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Human resources specialists
- Financial analysts
- Financial and investment advisors
- Database and network professionals
Emerging skills include:
- Analytical thinking and innovation
- Creativity, originality and initiative
- Active learning and learning strategies
- Technology design and programming
- Complex problem-solving
- Critical thinking and analysis
- Leadership and social influence
- Reasoning, problem-solving and ideation
- Emotional intelligence
- Systems analysis and evaluation
To account for the shifting skills needs, companies reported a variety of responses, including looking to automate the work (84% say it’s likely), hiring new permanent staff with skills relevant to new technologies (also 84%) and retraining existing employees (81%).
As told by the survey, more than half of the US workforce will need reskilling and the commitment varies from less than one month to over a year. Internal departments are most likely (52%) to provide the upskilling.
