Fastest growing jobs across the globe – Survey

An illustration of a software engineer at work/ HANDOUT

Does your job or dream job fall under the data field or technology-related roles? The Future Jobs Report 2025 says these are among the careers that are in the growth lane.

According to data contributed by over 1,000 leading global employers across 55 economies from around the world, these are jobs that will grow more in the 2025-2030 time frame.

They include big data specialists, fintech engineers, AI and machine learning specialists, software and applications developers, security management specialists, data warehousing specialists, and autonomous and electric vehicle specialists.

Others are UI and UX designers, light truck or delivery services drivers, internet of things specialists, data analysts and scientists, environmental engineers, information security analysts, DevOps engineers and renewable energy engineers.

The Report was conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) led by its Managing Director Saadia Zahid, to examine how macro trends impact jobs and skills, and the workforce transformation strategies employers plan to embark on in response, across the highlighted time frame.

“According to the surveyed executives, the fastest growing job roles by 2030, in percentage terms, tend to be driven by technological developments, such as advancements in AI and robotics and increasing digital access,” Zahidi said.

She noted that while technology trends partly contribute to the growth of security-related roles such as security management specialists, increased geopolitical fragmentation contributes in large part to the growth of this role.

On the green and energy-transition roles like the environmental engineers, Zahidi said their growth is driven by increased efforts and investments to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to climate change.

She added that the growing adoption of energy generation, storage and distribution technologies, alongside other technology trends, are additional contributing factors.

According to the report, farmworkers top the list of the largest growing job roles in the next five years and are expected to see 35 million more jobs by 2030.

Green transition trends, including increased efforts and investments to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to climate change, are the driving forces behind this job growth.

Zahidi said broadening digital access and rising cost of living also contribute to the growth of this job role, which currently employs more than 200 million workers worldwide.

She stated that software and applications developers, general and operations managers, and project managers, are among the job categories driving the most net job growth.

She added that broadening digital access is expected to be the most transformative trend – both across technology-related trends and overall – with 60 percent of employers expecting it to transform their business by 2030.

Zahidi further said advancements in technologies, particularly AI and information processing (86 percent); robotics and automation (58 percent); and energy generation, storage and distribution (41 percent), are also expected to be transformative.

“These trends are expected to have a divergent effect on jobs, driving both the fastest-growing and fastest-declining roles, and fueling demand for technology-related skills, including AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity and technological literacy, which are anticipated to be the top three fastest-growing skills,” she explained.

She said on average, workers can expect that two-fifths (39 per cent) of their existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the 2025-2030 period.

However she added, this measure of “skill instability” has slowed compared to previous editions of the report, from 44 per cent in 2023 and a high point of 57 per cent in 2020 in the wake of the pandemic.

“This finding could potentially be due to an increasing share of workers (50 per cent) having completed training, reskilling or upskilling measures, compared to 41 per cent in the report’s 2023 edition,” she said.

Zahidi noted that analytical thinking remains the most sought-after core skill among employers, with seven out of 10 companies considering it as essential in 2025.

“This is followed by resilience, flexibility and agility, along with leadership and social influence,” she added.

The MD said AI and big data top the list of fastest-growing skills, followed closely by networks and cybersecurity as well as technology literacy.

Complementing these technology-related skills, creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, along with curiosity and lifelong learning, are also expected to continue to rise in importance over the 2025-2030 period.

“Conversely, manual dexterity, endurance and precision stand out with notable net declines in skills demand, with 24 per cent of respondents foreseeing a decrease in their importance,” she said.

“While global job numbers are projected to grow by 2030, existing and emerging skills differences between growing and declining roles could exacerbate existing skills gaps.”