New Economy Skills: Unlocking the Human Advantage

The World Economic Forum’s New Economy Skills series provides guidance on the skills that should be prioritised to ensure business and economies have the talent to deliver on innovation, resilience and growth priorities. This first report of the series focusses on human-centric skills – the capabilities that allow individuals, organisations and societies to adapt to change and lead transformation. Once dismissed as “soft” attributes, human-centric skills – creativity, innovation and adaptability – have become a hard currency of the labour market. Employers increasingly recognise that while technology may support efficiency, human-centric skills drive innovation, collaboration and long-term productivity. Drawing on data from the education industry, workforce technology providers and expert consultations, the white paper analyses their global supply and demand, proposes a framework for assessing, developing and credentialing human skills and highlights frontier practices from around the world.