Changing landscape of skills in the age of AI

Changing landscape of skills in the age of AI (2026) is an inter-agency report by the European Training Foundation (ETF) on how AI adoption in workplaces is changing the skills people need. It finds growing demand for higher-order cognitive, socio-emotional and digital skills, and a still small but fast-growing AI workforce.

Its central policy message is that AI literacy is now a basic skill for everyone, and that skills policies should focus on broader human capabilities rather than narrow skillsets. The ETF prepared the report on behalf of the inter-agency working group it chaired from 2024 to 2026. It is written for experts, practitioners and policymakers in skills development and employment policy.

Key messages

• Skills are changing in variety and depth. Demand is rising for higher-order cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving, and for intermediate and advanced digital skills.
• Human work is shifting towards overseeing AI. As AI generates more content, people increasingly review, judge and contextualise it.
• Socio-emotional skills matter more. AI still cannot handle emotional intelligence and complex human interaction.
• Routine manual skills are losing relative importance. More refined manual skills for non-routine tasks are less affected.
• The AI workforce is small but growing fast. It is about 0.3% to 5% of total employment, depending on method and definition.
• AI literacy is a new basic skill for everyone.
• Policy should focus on capabilities, not narrow skillsets. The report points to agency, resilience and adaptability.

FAQs:

What is AI literacy?: The report defines it as the ability to understand, use, monitor and critically reflect on AI systems. It has three domains: technical literacy, analytical and data literacy, and ethical and societal literacy.

What does the report recommend for skills policy?

• Integrate AI literacy across curricula, from primary to higher education, adult learning and workplace training.
• Revise occupational standards, qualifications and curricula, and link AI-related micro-credentials to national qualifications frameworks and quality assurance.
• Give teachers, trainers and institutions the time, support and capacity to integrate AI into teaching.
• Expand AI upskilling for adults and workers, since current training supply may not meet demand for general AI literacy.
• Adapt assessment, certification and quality assurance systems.