Towards a Reskilling Revolution

The report argues that reskilling at-risk workers is often more financially viable for companies and governments than firing and hiring or paying welfare. Using US data, it demonstrates that 25% of disrupted workers could be reskilled by the private sector with a positive cost-benefit balance, a figure that could rise to 45% through industry collaboration. It provides strategic frameworks for workforce planning and detailed roadmaps for the Aerospace, Aviation, Travel and Tourism, Consumer, Financial Services, and Oil and Gas industries to manage the transition to a digital economy.

• The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 1.37 million workers will be fully displaced from their roles in the next decade; reskilling them into viable and desirable roles would cost approximately US$34 billion, averaging US$24,800 per worker.
• From a private sector perspective in the US, an investment of US$4.7 billion could reskill 25% of workers in disrupted jobs with a positive cost-benefit balance, meaning it is in the financial interest of the company to reskill these employees rather than fire and hire.
• For the US government, reskilling 77% of workers displaced by technology into growing jobs would generate a positive return through increased tax revenue and reduced welfare payments, requiring an investment of US$19.9 billion.
• Companies face significant barriers to technology adoption, with 60% of US-based companies citing skills gaps in local labour markets and 46% citing skills gaps in leadership as primary obstacles.
• The report identifies a shift in skill demand by 2022, where digital skills like technology design and programming are rising, while physical skills such as manual dexterity and precision are declining due to automation.
• In the Aerospace industry, the primary barriers to technology adoption are skills gaps in local labour markets (59%), leadership (41%), and a lack of understanding of opportunities (59%).
• The Aviation, Travel and Tourism industry is characterized by a high proportion of low-skilled workers and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises that lack the economies of scale to respond to skills needs.
• In the Consumer industry, 83% of companies expect technology adoption to most significantly impact their value chain, and 57% project a reduction in workforce due to automation.
• The Financial Services industry identifies upskilling the current workforce in cybersecurity and data analysis as the most pressing issue for sustainable growth.
• The Oil and Gas industry is seeing a shift toward remote operations and central monitoring of drilling and processing, with 67% of companies expecting technology adoption to change their locations of operation.

APA

World Economic Forum (2019). Towards a Reskilling Revolution. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Towards_a_Reskilling_Revolution.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Towards a Reskilling Revolution. 2019. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Towards_a_Reskilling_Revolution.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Towards a Reskilling Revolution |date=January 2019 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Towards_a_Reskilling_Revolution.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2019towards, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Towards a Reskilling Revolution}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2019}, month = jan, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Towards_a_Reskilling_Revolution.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }