68% of PH workers need to upskill, says WEF study
For many first-time job seekers, upskilling is a key to standing out in the job market and building the foundations of career growth.
Take how Gelly Aquino, 22, uses some of her free time to learn more about her interests through free online courses while studying to become a secondary school teacher.
Engaged by arts, graphics, and user interface and experience design, she took related courses from the University of the Philippines Open University and Coursera during her semestral break.
Aquino hopes that this will make her stand apart as a budding educator, with application- and website-designing skills to boot.
“My passion really is related to arts, and because of the emergence of technology I wanted it to be related to design and technology. But through the years, I learned to love education,” Aquino says in Filipino.
“So, the reason I [underwent upskilling] is to merge these together and to become qualified for job positions that intertwine these fields … Through this upskilling, it will make my chances of landing a very good job more likely.”
Meanwhile, Marlo Mancenido, 25, works as a video engineer at a postproduction company in Quezon City. Straight out of college and wanting to know his way through the film and television production industry, he grabbed a chance to learn about color grading—he says he has no prior experience—when an in-person training opportunity came up.
“I also want to be known [in the industry] in a way like, ‘Wow, the color [in this film] is good; you know that Marlo Mancenido made it,’ the prestige and to be known for something like that,” explains Mancenido.
“Being a color grader is having an additional skill to contribute to a film production. I can also offer another point, another service … I saw this as an opportunity to climb up the ladder,” he adds.
Just as individuals like Aquino and Mancenido see upskilling as a prerequisite to advance their careers, businesses and organizations also increasingly recognize this strategy as an important tool to keep being competitive and resilient in the years ahead, concludes the Future of Jobs Report 2025 by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The report is based on a survey of C-suite executives across 1,043 global companies, representing 14 million workers across 22 industry clusters and 55 economies, and released on Jan. 8.
It shows a labor market that will be shaped by broader access to digital technologies and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI). The report estimates that there would be a net increase of 78 million jobs by 2030, with 170 million roles seen to be created and 92 million to be displaced.
“Trends such as generative AI and rapid technological shifts are upending industries and labor markets, creating both unprecedented opportunities and profound risks,” says Till Leopold, head of work, wages and job creation at the WEF.
Changing jobs
Because of climate change adaptation and other green transition trends, farmworkers, laborers and other agricultural workers are projected to have the largest increase in terms of absolute numbers, with 35 million more jobs seen by 2030.
Other front-line roles expected to grow in the next five years include delivery drivers, building construction workers, salespersons and food processing workers, affected by demographic and economic trends.
Aging populations are anticipated to drive more jobs in health care, such as nurses, social workers, counselors and care aides. Due to growing working-age populations, teachers in secondary schools and in universities and colleges are forecast to become some of the biggest job contributors.
Jobs related to AI and other technologies, such as big data specialists, financial technology engineers, AI and machine learning specialists and software and app developers are projected as the fastest growing in percentage terms.
Clerical and secretarial workers, such as cashiers, administrative assistants and executive secretaries, remain as the expected largest-declining role in absolute terms.
The report shows that graphic designers and legal secretaries have, for the first time, been predicted as part of the fastest-declining jobs because of the increasing capacities of generative AI.
Meanwhile, upskilling will be among the top priorities for employers to prepare for the effects of technological advancements and economic and geopolitical uncertainties, says the report. In Southeast Asia, 96 percent are focused on upskilling their workforce.
The report shows that 43 percent of core skills required by companies will change, higher than the global average skill disruption of 39 percent. Skills currently used the most include resilience, flexibility and agility; leadership and social influence; and technological literacy. By 2030, skills projected to be increasingly used are knowledge of AI and big data, as well as networks and cybersecurity.
In the Philippines, the skills gap is seen as the biggest obstacle to the transformation of businesses and organizations at 67 percent of those surveyed, more than the 63-percent worldwide average.
This is aside from the lack of adequate data and technical infrastructure, at 49 percent, and the inability to attract talent to the industry, at 39 percent, both above the global average at 32 percent and 37 percent, respectively.
Training gap
The report also reveals that 68 percent of Filipino workers, surpassing the global average of 59 percent, are expected to need training to meet evolving skill demands. However, only 38 percent have completed their training to date, as compared with the 50-percent global average.
To illustrate the upskilling and reskilling picture, the report represents the workforce as a group of 100 people. In the Philippines, 68 of these workers would need to upskill or reskill by 2030, also higher than the global average of 59 workers.
Of these 68 workers, 28 would be upskilled in their current role; 27 would be upskilled and redeployed to other roles within the organization, while 13 would be unlikely to be upskilled—translating to a risk of job displacement or redundancy.
Due to the rise of AI, 96 percent of those surveyed in the Philippines plan to reskill and upskill their workforce in anticipation of this; 73 percent would hire new people with AI-related skills, such as the development of tools and technologies that can help their organization; and 68 percent would reorient their business to target new opportunities provided by AI.
Flexible hiring and firing practices, provisioning and funding for the upskilling and reskilling of workers are the top three public policies that can help Filipino companies better cope with changes in the job market and increase talent availability in the next five years, the WEF report shows.
The WEF says that governments, businesses and educational institutions across the globe should prioritize bridging skills gaps and creating opportunities for fast-growing jobs and skills that will be in demand come 2030.
“The time is now for businesses and governments to work together, invest in skills and build an equitable and resilient global workforce,” notes WEF’s Leopold in a statement.
