The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is expected to transform the work environment, training and development of the work force and hiring processes. The World Economic Forum on the Future of Work identifies core skills that are sought after in the workforce as analytical thinking, resilience and flexibility. Agility, leadership and social influence are identified as the top 3 core skills desired in employees across the world.

These are traits that you can develop across any study programme as you complete your tertiary qualification. You can develop and demonstrate these skills through extra-curricular programmes and a portfolio of your academic work. Keep in mind that these top 3 traits are likely to help you find employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing or automotive and aerospace industries or education and training.

At the heart of 4IR is the fact that technology and innovation are often coupled together, because technology improves efficiency of the work environment through effective data management. This often leads to the development of new systems and processes; which is what the revolution aims to achieve. Consequently innovation and new technologies emerge out of scientific inquiry and research.

It means that when studying a research intensive programme, you should anticipate opportunities of employment in roles that are related to data management solutions. From lab work to social science research, questioning data to understand underlying trends helps form new knowledge, which informs how society makes progress and responds to new challenges.

The Future of Jobs Report by the World Economic Forum found that 45% of the respondents identified AI and Big Data as ‘core skills’ employees and potential employees should possess in their workforce. Therefore, learning to work with AI and Big Data is valuable, but there are many other more valuable skills worth developing during your tertiary education and training.

As automation and artificial intelligence ‘rewrite the rules of work’ administrative tasks become less time-consuming and enable administrators to be less prone to error. while completing their tasks. According to the 2025 Future of Jobs report, Clerical and Secretarial workers are likely to be the most affected by technological developments. According to the report, roles such as Big Data Specilist, FinTech Engineers, AI and Machine Learning Specialist and Software and Applications Developers are expected to be the fastest growing job roles until 2030. As these developments increase digital access they are also driving the decline of the demand and availability of job roles such as Postal Service Clerks, Bank Tellers and related Clerks, Cashiers and Ticket Clerks, and Administrative Assistants and Executive Secretaries.

As barriers of entry to the labour market change, education and training will become more valuable. When considering which study programme is most suitable for you and your aspirations, think about how you will add value to society and who will reward you for your contribution.

https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_Report_2025.pdf