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WORKING THE FUTURE
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WORKING THE FUTURE
© Working the Future Ltd. 2016-2026. Limited company no. 10512378 registered in England and Wales
Registered office address: 42 Longfield Drive, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 5HE, United Kingdom
Working the Future, the Working the Future logotype and the arrowhead device are all registered trademarks of Working the Future Ltd.
Working the Future Upskilling
Vital Skills™ – developing the human skills that AI can't replace
The World Economic Forum predicts 59% of the global workforce will need to upskill or reskill by 2030 due to the pace and scale of technological advancement. While net job growth is anticipated, it expects that 92 million jobs may be displaced.
This reality is already showing up in today's labour market data. In a world where anything that can be automated is likely to be, we urgently need to rethink how we equip our businesses with the skills relevant for the future of work.
WHY THESE SKILLS MATTER
The upskilling challenge no one is talking about
Getting future-ready means more than mastering the latest digital platforms – your workforce strategy now needs to ensure your people are equipped with the skills that no technology can replicate.
In some sectors, certain hard skills – acquired through education and training – are increasingly fleeting, continuously reshaped by the next wave of technology.
In the age of AI, the skills that will matter most are deeply, irreducibly human. That's why we call them Vital Skills™.
📈 Key to business resilience
As routine tasks are automated, businesses that invest in human capability will outperform those that don't – in agility, innovation and retention.
🌱 Learnable at any age
Unlike technical skills, these skills aren't age-limited or role-specific. With the right environment they can be cultivated by anyone.
🚫 Impossible to automate
Nuanced, context-specific and deeply relational – Vital Skills™ are the very qualities people will need to flourish in the future of work.
OUR UPSKILLING FRAMEWORK
Nurturing Vital Skills™ for the future of work
For decades, these skills have been dismissed as "soft" – a label that has done them no favours. Soft implies optional. Soft implies secondary.
Increasingly they're anything but these things, of course.
They underpin our upskilling programmes, which are designed to help your business develop these core human attributes in your teams.
16 Vital Skills™ across four clusters
Each of the skills we've identified is validated by our proprietary research and deeply interconnected with the others. Together, they form a living ecosystem – not a checklist.
CLUSTER 3
The resilient self
Keeping it going when it gets hard – skills for navigating a world in permacrisis:
Grit · Adapatability · Resilience · Growth mindset
CLUSTER 1
The inner self
Knowing who you are – the foundation upon which everything else is built:
Emotional intelligence · Self-awareness · Empathy · Humility
CLUSTER 2
The social self
How we show up for others – building the architecture of thriving teams:
Communicaton · Inter-connectedness · Collaboration · Authenticity
CLUSTER 4
The creative self
Imagining what's next – making sense of complexity and bringing new things to life:
Critical thinking ·
Imagination · Curiosity · Creativity
OUR APPROACH
How we work with you
Our upskilling work is grounded in executive education, evidence-based psychology and a belief that self-awareness is where all personal change begins.
1. Awareness – understanding the landscape
We begin by helping your teams understand the forces reshaping the future of work and why Vital Skills™ are now a strategic priority.
2. Development – building skills that stick
We work with your people to develop the specific Vital Skills™ that will impact your business' long-term performance and resilience.
3. Embedding – making it part of your culture
We help you integrate Vital Skills™ into how you hire, how you lead and how you operate.
KEY BENEFITS
Why embedding Vital Skills™ helps future-proof your business
Businesses that invest in Vital Skills™ don't just build better teams – they build better places to work. Here's what that looks like in practice.
📈 Gains in performance and engagement
Greater self-awareness, resilience and collaboration skills lead to higher engagement, stronger output and reduced attrition.
🔥A culture that attracts and retains talent
Vital Skills™ create the psychological safety and authentic leadership that turn good workplaces into great ones.
💡A workforce that innovates
under pressure
Teams with strong Vital Skills™ are better equipped to solve complex problems, adapt to disruption and spot opportunities others miss.
WORK WITH US
Ready to make your business future-fit?
We work with SME and mid-tier businesses whose leaders understand that their people are their most important competitive advantage. If you're ready to invest in yours, let's discuss how we can help.