Work is anything but static.

Jobs have always evolved in response to market shifts, technological advancements and much more. Now, roles and their key skills are changing at a phenomenal rate.

Nearly a quarter of jobs expected to change 

According to the World Economic Forum’s latest Future of Jobs Report, employers are expecting to see a structural labour market churn of 23% of jobs by 2027. WEF chalks this up to “an aggregate measure of disruption, constituting a mixture of emerging jobs added and declining jobs eliminated”. 

So, which roles are the fastest-growing – and why?

Tech leads the way

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority of changes to both existing and newly emerging roles are in response to adoption of technology, the report explains.

AI and Machine Learning Specialists top the list of fast-growing jobs, followed by Sustainability Specialists, Business Intelligence Analysts and Information Security Analysts.

Thanks to the shift towards renewable energy, other relatively fast-growing roles include Renewable Energy Engineers, and Solar Energy Installation and System Engineers.

“Exponential changes in technology represent unprecedented opportunity for growth of new skills and ways of working,” says Louise Robinson, Swinburne Edge Executive Director. “In order for businesses to seize these opportunities, it’s critical that organisations bolster their workforce through building essential capabilities to harness the benefits of technology.”

According to World Economic Forum data, the majority of changes to both existing and newly emerging roles are in response to adoption of technology.

Equipping workforces with fast-growing key skills

Industry leaders are challenged to quickly identify the impact of technology on their workforce and understand the new capabilities required to adapt to these changes. Increasing use of data analytics used in workforce planning offers a way forward with many new systems providing a greater level of information across a range of data points.

People and Culture professionals can lead the way to identify and interpret the workforce information by increasing their digital literacy and data-informed decision-making capability offered by new platforms, as well as use of new technology such as AI. This, in turn, will support the development of a new approach to their business leaders.

“Transforming a workforce’s capabilities is a long-term, strategic undertaking,” explains Louise Robinson.

“To be successful, organisations need to harness leading-edge expert knowledge in both workforce planning and capability uplift. With these twin capabilities delivered by People and Culture teams, enterprises can harness digital tools and data to inform practice and enhance strategic conversations with business leads to achieve their business goals, as well as to customise relevant training.”

Swinburne Edge meets rapidly evolving market needs and enhances capabilities through the development and delivery of industry-leading courses.

Translating the trend to your reality

For many business leaders, including those at the helm in Human Resources and Learning & Development, attracting and retaining talent requires tremendous effort and time. Carving out hours to translate macro trends to an organisation’s reality is a luxury few can afford.

The Swinburne Edge vision is to meet rapidly evolving market needs and enhance capabilities through the development and delivery of industry-leading courses.

Swinburne Edge has extensive experience in the design, development and delivery of customised capability and culture-transformation programs that build a deeper understanding and alignment to key organisational drivers, behaviours, and mindset goals.

As a leading dual-sector university, Swinburne is highly regarded within the workforce development sector. With a dedicated learning design team, subject matter experts and facilitators, our learning solutions are carefully designed to reflect targeted organisational needs.

Contact Swinburne Edge for a discussion about building your workforce’s key skills.

Swinburne Edge learning solutions are carefully designed to reflect targeted organisational needs.

Louise Robinson is Executive Director at Swinburne Edge, renowned for her passion in skills training, innovation, and ability to identify growth opportunities. With a diverse background in both education and corporate sectors, Louise brings a unique perspective to this role.

Combining her extensive corporate and consulting experience with executive leadership roles within Australian universities, Louise's expertise is further enriched by her status as a Fulbright scholar and a fellow of the International Specialist Skills Institute. These experiences have greatly contributed to her strategic thinking abilities and global mindset, allowing her to approach challenges with a forward-thinking perspective.

Louise is dedicated to driving the growth and impact of Swinburne Edge. Under her visionary leadership, Swinburne Edge is poised to thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of skills training and innovation – increasingly in demand from workplaces and industry alike.