Total VeteranWEF Future of Jobs 2025: Fastest Growing and Declining Jobs to 2030, and What They Mean for Veterans
The WEF expects 170 million jobs created and 92 million displaced by 2030. Here are the growing and declining roles with figures, set against US and UK projections.
- WEF expects 170 million jobs created and 92 million displaced by 2030, a net gain of 78 million.
- Big data specialists (113%), fintech engineers (93%) and AI specialists (82%) lead growth by percentage.
- Postal clerks (-34%), bank tellers (-31%) and data entry clerks (-26%) lead decline by percentage.
- 59 in every 100 workers need training by 2030, and 11 of them are unlikely to receive it.
- BLS and Skills England projections agree on direction: data, energy, construction and care grow.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) Future of Jobs Report 2025 expects 170 million jobs to be created and 92 million displaced worldwide between 2025 and 2030, a net gain of 78 million. The fastest-growing roles sit in data, AI and software. The steepest declines hit clerical and administrative work. This guide lists the roles with their figures, sets them beside official US and UK projections, and shows how a transitioning veteran can use them.
The headline numbers
| Measure | WEF figure, 2025 to 2030 |
|---|---|
| Jobs created | 170 million (14% of today's employment) |
| Jobs displaced | 92 million (8%) |
| Net growth | 78 million (7%) |
| Total structural churn | 22% of today's jobs |
| Skills expected to change | 39% of existing skill sets (44% in the 2023 edition, 57% in 2020) |
| Workers needing training | 59 in every 100: 29 upskilled in role, 19 reskilled and redeployed, 11 unlikely to receive the training they need |
| Employers naming skill gaps as the main barrier | 63% |
The report draws on a survey of more than 1,000 employers across 22 industries and 55 economies, with data from ADP, Coursera, Indeed and LinkedIn (WEF press release). It records what employers expect. It does not record what workers will experience, and the figures describe the global economy, not any one country.
Fastest-growing jobs by percentage
The WEF publishes the ranking as a chart. The percentages below are as reported by Euronews from that chart, and the order matches the report's own list.
| Rank | Role | Projected growth, 2025 to 2030 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big data specialists | 113% |
| 2 | FinTech engineers | 93% |
| 3 | AI and machine learning specialists | 82% |
| 4 | Software and applications developers | 57% |
| 5 | Security management specialists | 53% |
| 6 | Data warehousing specialists | 49% |
| 7 | Autonomous and electric vehicle specialists | 48% |
| 8 | UI and UX designers | 48% |
| 9 | Light truck or delivery services drivers | 46% |
| 10 | Internet of Things specialists | 42% |
| 11 | Data analysts and scientists | 41% |
Percentages mislead on small bases, which is why the report also ranks jobs by headcount. Two rows suit people with operational backgrounds and need no degree: security management specialists and delivery drivers. The rest usually need a technical qualification.
Fastest-declining jobs by percentage
| Rank | Role | Projected change, 2025 to 2030 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Postal service clerical workers | -34% |
| 2 | Bank tellers and related clerical workers | -31% |
| 3 | Data entry clerks | -26% |
| 4 | Cashiers and ticket clerks | -20% |
| 5 | Administrative assistants and executive secretaries | -20% |
| 6 | Printing and related trades workers | -20% |
| 7 | Accounting, bookkeeping and payroll clerks | -18% |
| 8 | Material-recording and stock-keeping clerks | -16% |
| 9 | Door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors | -14% |
By headcount, the largest net decline falls on clerical and secretarial workers. The report's jobs outlook chapter also places graphic designers and legal secretaries just outside its top-10 decline list.
Largest growth by headcount
The same chapter ranks roles by the number of jobs added. Farmworkers lead with about 35 million additional jobs, on top of more than 200 million today. The other large gainers are:
- Delivery drivers, building construction workers, salespersons and food processing workers
- Nursing professionals, social work and counselling professionals, and personal care aides
- Secondary education teachers and university and higher education teachers
- Software and applications developers, general and operations managers, and project managers
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WEF, US and UK projections side by side
| Source | Scope and period | Growing | Declining |
|---|---|---|---|
| WEF Future of Jobs 2025 | Global employers, 2025 to 2030 | AI and big data specialists, fintech engineers, software developers, care and construction roles | Postal and bank clerks, data entry, cashiers, administrative assistants |
| BLS Employment Projections (27 August 2026) | US, 2025 to 2035. Total employment +3.5% (5.9 million jobs) | Nurse practitioners +41.0%, solar PV installers +36.5%, data scientists +34.6%, wind turbine technicians +29.5% | Office and administrative support -4.0% (-752,100 jobs); word processors and typists -34.4%; data entry keyers -25.5% |
| NFER Skills Imperative 2035 | UK, 2020 to 2035 (published 2022) | Science, research, engineering and technology professionals +0.90 million; health and social care associate professionals +0.60 million | Elementary administration and service occupations -0.52 million; secretarial and related -0.20 million |
| Skills England (updated November 2025) | England, priority sectors, 2025 to 2030 | Priority occupations from 5.9 million to 6.7 million (+15%); clean energy industries +77%; housebuilding +42% | Not a decline forecast; the assessment covers growth sectors only |
The sources agree on direction. Data, energy, construction and care expand. Routine clerical work shrinks. They differ on speed and on size, and each uses a different method, so compare the pattern and avoid treating any single percentage as a promise.
What is driving the change
Chapter 1 of the report (drivers of labour market transformation) asks employers which forces will reshape their business by 2030.
| Driver | Share of employers expecting transformation |
|---|---|
| Broadening digital access | 60% |
| Rising cost of living | 50% |
| Slower economic growth | 42% |
| Ageing and declining working-age population | 40% |
| AI and information processing technologies | 86% |
| Robots and autonomous systems | 58% |
| Reducing carbon emissions | 47% |
| Climate adaptation | 41% |
The report also records that investment in AI has grown nearly eightfold since November 2022, and that robot density reached 162 units per 10,000 employees in 2023, about double the level seven years earlier.
The skills side of the forecast
The skills outlook chapter ranks analytical thinking as the most sought-after core skill, cited by about seven in ten companies. Resilience, flexibility and agility follow at 67%, then leadership and social influence. Since the 2023 edition, leadership and social influence has gained 22 percentage points and resilience, flexibility and agility 17. AI and big data are the fastest-growing technical skills, followed by networks and cybersecurity and technological literacy. Manual dexterity, endurance and precision is the main skill group expected to lose importance, with 24% of employers foreseeing a decrease.
What employers say they will do about AI
Chapter 4 of the report (workforce strategies) gives the employer response:
- 86% expect AI and information processing to transform their business by 2030
- 85% plan to upskill their existing workforce, and 70% plan to hire people with new skills
- 77% plan reskilling or upskilling to work alongside AI
- 47% plan to move staff from AI-disrupted roles into other roles
- 41% expect to reduce headcount as AI replicates tasks
Both responses happen at once. A worker in a declining category cannot know which one their employer will pick, which is the case for moving before the role shrinks.
How to use the lists in a transition
- Place your current trade on the map. Find your closest civilian job title in the tables above and in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (US), or start with the National Careers Service skills assessment (UK).
- Pick a growth row that needs one missing credential. Security management, project management, logistics, electrical and energy trades all match common service backgrounds. Our guide to skills employers will pay for in 2030 covers the evidence to bring.
- Treat decline rows as a timing signal. A job on the declining list can still pay well today. Plan the next move while you hold the income. The companion piece on jobs AI is erasing sets out the timing argument.
- Check the local labour market. Global growth does not guarantee openings near you. Search live vacancies for the role in your region before you commit to a course.
The WEF figures come from employer expectations. The BLS states that uncertainty about AI's impact is very high and applies AI adjustments conservatively. Skills England describes its estimates as highly uncertain. Use the lists to choose a direction and test it against real vacancies.
What to do this week
- Find your closest civilian job title on the growth and decline tables above.
- Choose one growth role that needs a single missing credential and price that credential.
- Search live vacancies for that role in your region and count the openings.
- Look up the role in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook or try the National Careers Service skills assessment.
- Book one conversation with someone currently doing the job before you pay for training.
Questions people ask
What is the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025?
Which jobs are growing fastest by 2030?
Which jobs are declining fastest?
Does the net gain of 78 million jobs mean my job is safe?
What should a veteran do with this forecast?
- World Economic Forum, "The Future of Jobs Report 2025: Digest" (January 2025). https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/digest/
- World Economic Forum, "Future of Jobs Report 2025: Jobs Outlook" (chapter 2, 2025). https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/in-full/2-jobs-outlook/
- World Economic Forum, "Future of Jobs Report 2025: Workforce Strategies" (chapter 4, 2025). https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/in-full/4-workforce-strategies/
- World Economic Forum, "78 Million New Job Opportunities by 2030" press release (January 2025). https://www.weforum.org/press/2025/01/future-of-jobs-report-2025-78-million-new-job-opportunities-by-2030-but-urgent-upskilling-needed-to-prepare-workforces/
- Euronews, "Which are the fastest growing and declining jobs" (1 February 2025). https://euronews.com/business/2025/02/01/jobs-market-at-a-crossroads-which-are-the-fastest-growing-and-declining-jobs
- BLS, "Employment Projections: 2025-2035" news release (27 August 2026). https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.htm
- NFER, "Jobs lost to technology set to be replaced by higher skilled and healthcare roles by 2035" (October 2022). https://www.nfer.ac.uk/blogs/jobs-lost-to-technology-set-to-be-replaced-by-higher-skilled-and-healthcare-roles-by-2035/
- Skills England, "Assessment of priority skills to 2030" (August 2025, updated November 2025). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessment-of-priority-skills-to-2030/assessment-of-priority-skills-to-2030
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