New Skills Today, Career Success Tomorrow

“Learning is not a job, it’s a lifestyle,” noted entrepreneur and motivator of millions Jim Rohn famously said. That’s certainly a philosophy to live by. Yet in a world where jobs are increasingly dependent on acquiring new skills—and new ways to maximize the skills you already have—it’s clear that while learning may not be a job, it is certainly essential to excelling at one.

In this week’s Five on Friday, we take a look at what workers in the U.S. and around the globe are feeling about the new skills they’ll need to learn in order to excel in the workplace of tomorrow—which may already be here today.

39% of workers’ existing skill sets will either be transformed or will be outdated over the next five years, according to the 2025 World Economic Forum (WEF) Future of Jobs Report. “However, this measure of ‘skill instability’ has slowed compared to previous editions of the report, from 44% in 2023 and a high point of 57% in 2020,” the WEF report notes.

24% of global workers feel confident they possess the skills needed for career advancement in the next three years of their careers, according to an ADP Research survey.

“There’s always been truth in the saying “the only constant is change.” But these days, that’s morphed into something along the lines of “the only constant is that change is happening faster all the time,” says ECLARO Co-Founder Tom Sheridan. “Technological advances, the increasing impact of AI on an ever-evolving range of roles and tasks—it’s a challenge for employees and job seekers to keep up with the changing skill sets that will not only help them do their jobs but do them as a level where they can excel and advance in their careers. But making the time and effort is well worth the investment, in both the short term and the long run.”

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61% of workers say upskilling is a priority for them in 2025 (and additional 31% say they are considering upskilling this year), according to the most recent MyPerfectResume survey.

“Job seekers can set themselves apart by staying on top of the skills and tools their ideal roles require not only today but for the future. It may sound obvious, but not everybody follows this advice,” says ECLARO Co-Founder Paul Sheridan. “And employers can set themselves apart by supporting ongoing learning and development with an eye toward building a future-ready workforce in their organizations.”

600%: The increased likelihood that employees would recommend their company as a great place to work, according to the ADP survey, if their organization provided training for upskilling and career advancement.

70% of employers say that analytical thinking is essential, and is in fact the most sought-after “core skill” they look for in a job candidate, the WEF Future of Jobs Report says. Rounding out the top five are resilience, flexibility and agility, leadership and social influence.

“The Right People typically have a mix of technical skills and soft skills that help them excel throughout their careers,” Tom Sheridan says. “Continuing to evolve both those types of skills and have them work in harmony will become even more important going forward.”

“It’s always been the case that learning new skills is essential for employees at every level of every organization,” Paul Sheridan adds. “At ECLARO we always talk about creating a lifelong love of learning, about the importance of staying curious and embracing new technologies—this isn’t anything new, but the speed at which new skills are needed makes the concept more urgent.”