By 2030, a whopping 92 million jobs could disappear while 170 million new ones are created, according to the World Economic Forum. The figures show just how fast work is being upended by forces including advances in artificial intelligence and automation. That leaves many students and professionals grappling with a daunting question: how do you prepare for jobs that have not been created yet?
One person with some answers is Yaëlle Amsallem, a postdoctoral researcher for the Reinventing Work Chair, a research centre at ESCP. Her work focuses on how organisations and individuals can adapt to new forms of employment, even as traditional career paths break down.
“We need first to think not about what will happen, but about what we want to happen,” she says. “If students are to become future managers, we need to decide what kind of society we want to live in.”
There will always be core jobs — in farming, nursing, education — because we will always need food and care. For me, those are the most important roles. We also need to imagine better futures. People are scared of what might come, but it’s important to create new models of work and society.
Focusing on purpose over predictions
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 highlights both disruption and opportunity, with steep losses in some sectors expected to be offset by rapid growth in areas such as AI, data and energy, leaving a net gain of 78 million jobs. But the report is not all rosy, as it also warns that 39% of core skills will change in just the next five years, a statistic that is drumming up anxiety in students and workers alike.
“A lot of students are worried,” says Amsallem. “And when they see a report like that it is even more worrisome. The numbers are really scary.” But she adds that rather than fuelling fear, such figures should prompt reflection on personal growth and purpose.
“Try not to be afraid of what new jobs might go and which might emerge, but focus instead on what you want to do — how you can grow and develop as a person,” says Amsallem.
In practice, this means planning your next steps at work or in education around your values, interests and transferable skills, rather than chasing every prediction about the next hot role.
Instead of fixating on forecasts, Amsallem argues, young people should ask what kinds of work they want to see in society.
“There will always be core jobs — in farming, nursing, education — because we will always need food and care,” she says. “For me, those are the most important roles. We also need to imagine better futures. People are scared of what might come, but it’s important to create new models of work and society.”
Skills machines cannot replace (yet)
Amid all the uncertainty, adaptability has already become essential for the workforce. “The skills needed today will look very different in just five years — and in 20 years, they’ll be almost unrecognisable,” Amsallem explains.
While technical expertise is still important, such as coding, data analysis and engineering, she stresses the qualities that machines cannot yet replicate. “Some things are hard to develop, like empathy and critical thinking, but these will be super important to have in the future,” she says.
This echoes the WEF’s finding that employers increasingly value problem-solving, creativity and adaptability alongside digital literacy. By 2030, the report suggests, 59% of workers worldwide will require reskilling, because technology and automation are changing jobs faster than existing skills can keep up.
Governments are taking note, Amsallem adds, with new initiatives to support lifelong learning — the idea that people should keep building new skills throughout their careers, not just at university. Yet she believes that, more than external factors, what matters most are individuals themselves, and the people they choose to surround themselves with.
You cannot know for certain which jobs will exist. But you can think about the skills you’ll likely need — and build a portfolio to show them.
“Learning is personal, it comes from the people you meet, the circles you spend time in, and the activities you do,” she says. “Mentorship is especially important. It’s hard to move forward without a role model, and that’s why so many students today feel anxious.”
Asked how professionals can stay ahead with work changing so quickly, Amsallem’s answer is simple: build strong networks. “Joining a community is crucial — networking in the true sense, built on real conversations,” she says.
But even with strong networks, the path ahead is far from straightforward. Traditional career ladders are increasingly shaky. Automation and AI threaten swathes of jobs once considered stable, such as graphic design, data entry, customer service and cashier roles.
By contrast, she points to sectors where demand is rising: “What’s interesting is that fields like education and medicine will continue to grow,” Amsallem notes, citing demographic pressures and the need for human care. “There are a lot of opportunities in these areas.”
Preparing for the unknown
Amsallem cautions against relying too much on forecasts, however. For those unsure how to start planning their future careers, she suggests taking a pragmatic approach. “You cannot know for certain which jobs will exist,” Amsallem says. “But you can think about the skills you’ll likely need — and build a portfolio to show them.”
According to the WEF, the spread of generative AI has quickened both job creation and destruction. As automation takes over routine tasks, employers are placing greater value on skills that machines cannot easily replicate, such as creativity, problem-solving and empathy. Amsallem sees this turbulence less as a threat than as an invitation to redesign work. Her conclusion is this: building a career today is less about predicting the future and more about helping to shape it.
License and Republishing
The Choice - Republishing rules
We publish under a Creative Commons license with the following characteristics Attribution/Sharealike.
- You may not make any changes to the articles published on our site, except for dates, locations (according to the news, if necessary), and your editorial policy. The content must be reproduced and represented by the licensee as published by The Choice, without any cuts, additions, insertions, reductions, alterations or any other modifications.If changes are planned in the text, they must be made in agreement with the author before publication.
- Please make sure to cite the authors of the articles, ideally at the beginning of your republication.
- It is mandatory to cite The Choice and include a link to its homepage or the URL of thearticle. Insertion of The Choice’s logo is highly recommended.
- The sale of our articles in a separate way, in their entirety or in extracts, is not allowed , but you can publish them on pages including advertisements.
- Please request permission before republishing any of the images or pictures contained in our articles. Some of them are not available for republishing without authorization and payment. Please check the terms available in the image caption. However, it is possible to remove images or pictures used by The Choice or replace them with your own.
- Systematic and/or complete republication of the articles and content available on The Choice is prohibited.
- Republishing The Choice articles on a site whose access is entirely available by payment or by subscription is prohibited.
- For websites where access to digital content is restricted by a paywall, republication of The Choice articles, in their entirety, must be on the open access portion of those sites.
- The Choice reserves the right to enter into separate written agreements for the republication of its articles, under the non-exclusive Creative Commons licenses and with the permission of the authors. Please contact The Choice if you are interested at contact@the-choice.org.
Individual cases
Extracts: It is recommended that after republishing the first few lines or a paragraph of an article, you indicate "The entire article is available on ESCP’s media, The Choice" with a link to the article.
Citations: Citations of articles written by authors from The Choice should include a link to the URL of the authors’ article.
Translations: Translations may be considered modifications under The Choice's Creative Commons license, therefore these are not permitted without the approval of the article's author.
Modifications: Modifications are not permitted under the Creative Commons license of The Choice. However, authors may be contacted for authorization, prior to any publication, where a modification is planned. Without express consent, The Choice is not bound by any changes made to its content when republished.
Authorized connections / copyright assignment forms: Their use is not necessary as long as the republishing rules of this article are respected.
Print: The Choice articles can be republished according to the rules mentioned above, without the need to include the view counter and links in a printed version.
If you choose this option, please send an image of the republished article to The Choice team so that the author can review it.
Podcasts and videos: Videos and podcasts whose copyrights belong to The Choice are also under a Creative Commons license. Therefore, the same republishing rules apply to them.
