A recent report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the job market, and a worker’s success in finding or keeping a job will increasingly depend on the worker’s ability to update skills or learn new ones.

In a recent IMF blog, it said one in 10 job postings in advanced economies and one in 20 in emerging market economies now require at least one new skill.

“As AI and digital technologies transform today’s workplace, new skills, new tasks, and entirely new occupations are rising even as other roles are disappearing,” it said.

The report stated that professional, technical, and managerial roles are seeing the most demand for new skills, particularly in information technology.

Sector-specific capabilities are also trending, in which healthcare, for instance, is seeing a surge in telecare and digital health skills, while marketing increasingly demands expertise in social media, the report noted.

“The changing face of the labor market is, understandably, creating anxiety among workers. With nearly 40 percent of global jobs exposed to AI-driven change, concerns about job displacement and declining opportunities for some groups are becoming more acute,” it continued.

This underscores the need for proactive and comprehensive policymaking that prepares the labor force for the future of work and ensures the gains from AI are broadly shared, the report stressed.

Another notable development is that job openings requiring new or emerging skills come with higher pay, with some employers offering from eight to 15 percent higher salary for openings with four or more new skills.

Further, the report said high-skill and low-skill workers tend to gain the most, while middle-skill roles, like routine office jobs, are being squeezed.

With the rapid workplace changes, policy choices made today can turn disruption into opportunity, said the report. “More broadly, countries should deploy policies to help workers adapt and acquire new skills and remain engaged in the workforce, and enhance their mobility through affordable housing and flexible work arrangements. This would help connect workers with new opportunities and help to spread new skills more quickly.”

Competition policy, facilitation of entry of new firms, and social protection should all be improved to better support those facing difficult job transitions and hasten their reintegration into the workforce.

The report also calls on governments to redesign education systems for an AI-driven economy. The high demand for new IT skills may not necessarily translate into a one-for-one rise in demand for IT and AI specialists, especially as many IT tasks may progressively be automated by AI. 

“So, today’s students need cognitive, creative, and technical skills that complement AI and help them use it rather than compete with it. At the same time, workers at risk of displacement need access to retraining to keep pace with rapid changes in the job market,” the IMF article said.