In 2023, Statista reported that approximately 75% of businesses planned to adopt disruptive technologies such as big data, AI, and cloud computing by 2027. As more technology is deployed, approximately 23% of current jobs are estimated to be affected, significantly transforming the labor market. The report also indicated that this transition will create approximately 69 million new jobs while eliminating around 83 million over the next five years.1

Recruiting and training new employees is expensive and time-consuming. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) estimated that the cost of hiring a new employee was around $4,700 in 2023.2 However, upskilling provides a tangible way for employees to grow and remain loyal. In fact, LinkedIn found that 94% of employees would stay longer at a company if it invested in their learning and development. Furthermore, upskilling also helps businesses foster a culture of continuous improvement and increases the potential for human advancement.

What skills to develop?

To identify needed skills, businesses can use skill-gap or capability gap analyses to assess immediate, intermediate, and long-term needs, as well as strategic growth opportunities. Various models are available to choose from: SAP LeanIX,3 Ardoq,4 and others. However, there is no one-size-fits-all tool to identify each business's needs. One obvious recommendation is to use both quantitative and qualitative inputs to balance the final set of recommended skills.

Each workforce has the current, specialized learned skills, crafted upon the native abilities of its workers. Engineers require some skills that health care professionals do not, and vice versa. Still, at the core of all up-skilling decisions are the adult human beings, their innate and learned abilities, and their motivation to learn.

Human abilities

Many experts believe that properly addressing uniquely human abilities is essential to all upskilling. Rodriguez Constable, a Forbes journalist, argues that as the technology improves, the skills that matter most to business will be soft skills, human skills. She states that emotional intelligence is a core competency and should be prioritized as it is key to managing inevitable conflicts. Hendrick (Hot Topics in HR, Sept. 2025) argues that people are the common factor in the most pressing business issues of 2026 and that every business must create educational pathways for its workforce. Josh Bersin contends that human capital is underutilized and that businesses need to build "dynamic skilling ecosystems that go beyond known skill gaps."5

Businesses that have conducted skill gap surveys identify problem-solving and team relationships as significant skill gaps, but struggle to define them further. AI has offered a generic definition of problem-solving that includes five steps: define the problem, diagnose the root cause, identify a solution, implement, and sustain it. For team relationships, AI has identified communication, empathy, trust, and conflict resolution as core abilities.

In a recent book, I suggested four sets of human abilities.6 They are:

  1. Openness, self-awareness, and reflection.

  2. Emotional intelligence and complex communication.

  3. Perspective-taking, problem-solving, and mental flexibility.

  4. Recognition of the interdependence of all phenomena and compassionate mindfulness.

Individual reflection on these ability sets can foster a sense of ownership and confidence in employees and leaders, making them feel more engaged and capable of driving change.

Different stakeholders will advance different views on which unique human abilities should be targeted first and which strategies should be employed to elevate human skills. However, the bottom line is that man is both a social and a thinking animal. Both qualities are fundamental to our past success. Recently, there has been a focus on expanding our thinking and technological abilities, and a shortfall in cultivating our social abilities. Various authors have recognized this shortfall and have offered self-help, spiritual, and business guides to rebalance attention toward social-emotional abilities and self-care. For example, Bradberry & Greaves (2012), Hahn (2015), and Brown (2018).

Social abilities

Fundamentally, humans are social animals. We have evolved to use language, social behaviors, and our brains to overcome obstacles, threats, and a range of environmental, economic, and political changes. Adoption of disruptive technologies in the global economy is the latest and perhaps most rewarding and daunting challenge for humanity. The speed and level of technological change affect multiple systems across diverse world regions and cultures, using tangible, interrelated, and often limited resources. To reap the most significant benefits and minimize the dangerous outcomes and inevitable side effects, will require all our innate and learned skills.

Cognitive abilities

While we need to elevate our interpersonal skills, our cognitive and critical thinking skills also need revision. Most experts agree that we should shift from linear, categorical thinking to open-system thinking.7. Systems thinking entails reflection on the interdependence of all phenomena and on taking multiple perspectives. Historically, Eastern philosophy and traditions have fostered this recognition, while much Western thought has championed the separation and categorization of phenomena. Thankfully, these thinking approaches are being replaced with hybrid thinking, utilizing both approaches as their strengths and as required by the context.

One knotty question, among others, is how to put all this learning into practice. While unique business and workforce characteristics will affect the pacing and sequence of our upscaling, one workforce characteristic is common: adults who want to be respected as adults with valuable past learning experiences. They are adult learners.

Adult learning

Human Resource and Adult Learning experts have the most front-line experience with how adults learn and are familiar with the adult learning theories of Knowles (1975) and, before him, Lindeman (1926). For our discussion, I will highlight a few key characteristics of successful adult learners:

  • Readiness to learn: adults want to learn and are prepared to do so when there is a good reason.

  • Motivation to learn: adults want to learn for their own reasons, such as advancing their careers, earning a pay rise, or boosting their self-esteem.

  • Orientation of learning: adult learners want their learning to apply to their everyday lives.

According to Knowles' theory, there are four principles to facilitate adult learning. They are:

  1. Involve the learners in the planning and evaluation of learning experiences (my emphasis added).

  2. Respect past experiences: relate new information to the learner's existing knowledge base.

  3. Relevant topics: link learning materials to the challenges and goals of learners.

  4. Problem-centric learning: encourage critical thinking and practical application.

Closing

Instead of hiring new people with "temporarily in-demand skill sets" and letting go of the existing workforce, I argue that we invest more in developing and expanding the abilities of our present workforce. The workforce should be involved in the content and design to the extent possible, respecting and using their valuable past experiences. Upskilling and reskilling should be aligned with businesses' and learners' problems, challenges, and goals. Businesses should reward the workforce for critical thinking, asking good questions, and using open systems thinking. Utilizing this approach offers more compassionate, productive options to address disruptions and fosters a work culture of continuous improvement. Focusing on elevating both social and cognitive abilities, with input from the workers involved, has the potential to lead to a more engaged, creative, and productive workforce, perhaps even advancing our species.

Notes

1 Statista.
2 The real costs of recruitment at The Society for Human Resource Management.
3 LeanIX.
4 Ardoq.
5 Yes, AI is really impacting the job market. Here’s what to do by Josh Bersin.
6 Leading: Cultivating Awareness and Teams That Thrive (Rudolph, 2025).
7 Cabrera & Cabrera, 2018; Goodman, 2023.