Relearning how to learn
Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released the Future of Jobs Report 2025, which found that 68 percent of Filipino workers require training to keep up with the evolving skill demands of the work landscape. This is notably higher than the global average of 59 percent, highlighting the vulnerability of many Filipinos to the risk of job displacement if no significant efforts are made to upskill and reskill the local workforce.
Representing 22 industry clusters and 55 economies, the WEF report estimates that 170 million new roles will be created, while 92 million will be displaced by 2030. The shifts will be driven primarily by broader access to artificial intelligence (AI) and other technological advancements, increased focus on climate-change mitigation, and a growing demand for services catering to an aging population. In contrast, demand for clerical and secretarial roles like cashiers, administrative assistants, and bank tellers is expected to decline as automation and digital systems take over these tasks.
The good news is, many companies are already investing in reskilling and upskilling employees as part of a strategic imperative to maintain their competitive advantage. The bad news: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that one of the biggest barriers to the success of these programs is convincing workers to participate. The OECD reported that only a very small fraction of workers voluntarily take part in training programs, and those who do are often the ones who need them the least.
Perhaps this is a telling proof point for what the WEF identified as crucial skills for the 2025-2030 period. While technology-related capabilities like AI, big data, cybersecurity, and digital literacy top the list of fastest-growing skills, soft skills, such as creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, agility, curiosity, and lifelong learning, are also projected to rise in importance. In short, people need to strengthen their motivation and capacity to self-learn. In a future where disruptions are inevitable, being intentional and proactive about one’s personal and professional growth becomes the foundation of resilience.
The global pandemic gave us a glimpse of this human capacity for reinvention: from teachers who quickly taught themselves digital tools to continue holding classes to home-based entrepreneurs who set up new businesses based on skills they learned from YouTube tutorials. These stories highlight the importance of being able to adjust one’s strategies when things do not go as planned.
In education, we call this self-regulated learning (SRL)—the ability of learners to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning activities to achieve specific goals. A 2022 study on AI and education emphasized that the workers who will thrive in an AI-driven economy are those with strong SRL skills and who can continually direct their own learning.
SRL starts with reflection and self-awareness. In order to adapt, we must first have a realistic assessment of which among our current roles, skills, and expertise could be rendered obsolete in the future. From there, we can set achievable learning goals that align with our desired career trajectory. People who practice self-regulated learning cultivate adaptability because disruptions are treated less as a crisis and more as a challenge. This mindset shields individuals not from change itself, but from paralysis in the face of ambiguity.
Leaders have a responsibility to model SRL for their staff. One of the best motivators for participation in professional development sessions is when senior leaders and middle managers also allocate time to join these trainings alongside their teams. This should be reinforced by one-on-one conversations that will guide and empower employees to identify their own learning gaps and encourage them to take ownership of their growth path.
In a month, I’ll be taking my comprehensive exams for my master’s degree in clinical psychology. It took me an additional year because psychology was not my undergraduate major and I had to take bridging subjects. While this was not part of my original career plans, the growing cases of students with learning disabilities and mental health challenges made me realize that being a licensed clinical psychologist would make me a more effective educator and school administrator.
Not everyone has access to extensive training from their organizations, nor the time or resources to pursue another degree. In this context, AI-powered systems can help democratize learning by giving individuals on-demand access to educational materials, personalized feedback, and opportunities to acquire new skills tailored to their needs. People just need to have a strong desire and commitment to self-learn. And perhaps, in the age of AI, self-regulated learning is the truest measure of intelligence. It is no longer about how much we know, but how quickly, humbly, and intentionally we can learn what we don’t.
