The Future of Jobs Report 2018

The Future of Jobs Report 2018 analyzes the transformation of global labour markets driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It projects a net positive job outlook where emerging roles offset those displaced by automation, while emphasizing a critical need for large-scale reskilling. The report advocates for an 'augmentation strategy' that uses technology to complement human strengths rather than simply replacing labour.

• Four primary technological drivers are expected to dominate business growth from 2018 to 2022: ubiquitous high-speed mobile internet, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and cloud technology.
• By 2022, 85% of surveyed companies are likely or very likely to have expanded their use of user and entity big data analytics.
• Companies are increasingly prioritizing the availability of skilled local talent (74%) over labour costs (64%) when making decisions about job locations.
• Automation is expected to reduce the full-time workforce for nearly 50% of companies by 2022, but this is offset by 38% of businesses expecting to add productivity-enhancing roles and over 25% expecting the creation of entirely new roles.
• The division of labour is shifting toward machines; the average share of total task hours performed by machines is projected to rise from 29% in 2018 to 42% by 2022.
• The report projects a net gain in employment for large firms, estimating that 133 million new roles may emerge while 75 million jobs may be displaced by 2022.
• Demand is increasing for technology-based roles such as Data Analysts, Software Developers, and AI Specialists, as well as roles requiring human skills like Customer Service and Innovation Management.
• By 2022, 54% of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling, with 10% needing training for more than a year.
• Current corporate reskilling efforts are skewed toward high-performing or high-value employees, leaving those most at risk of technological disruption the least likely to receive training.
• The report proposes an 'augmentation strategy' where automation is used to complement human strengths and free workers from repetitive tasks to focus on high-value activities.

APA

World Economic Forum (2018). The Future of Jobs Report 2018. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2018.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. The Future of Jobs Report 2018. 2018. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=The Future of Jobs Report 2018 |date=2018 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2018.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2018future, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{The Future of Jobs Report 2018}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2018}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }