AS 2025 draws to a close, artificial intelligence (AI) and related digital technologies have moved from pilot projects to daily tools across industries, reshaping how work is done and redefining which skills matter most.
Global labor markets have not collapsed, but they have been unsettled. Jobs are being created, displaced and transformed at the same time, producing a year marked by both opportunity and anxiety for workers, employers and policymakers — particularly in developing economies such as the Philippines and much of Southeast Asia.
According to the Future of Jobs Report 2025 by the World Economic Forum (WEF), more than 1,000 global employers representing over 14 million workers expect structural labor-market transformation to affect about 22 percent of all jobs worldwide between 2025 and 2030. That churn includes both growth and loss: employers project new roles equivalent to about 14 percent of current employment, offset by the displacement of roughly 8 percent, resulting in modest net job growth globally.
AI as accelerator, not a single culprit
Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, emerged this year as the most powerful accelerator of change rather than a single, stand-alone job killer. The WEF report shows that 86 percent of surveyed employers expect AI and information-processing technologies to transform their business operations by 2030, far more than robotics, automation or energy technologies.
In Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, AI adoption has been uneven but unmistakable. Employers are increasingly using AI tools for customer service, marketing, data analysis and software development, while many small and medium enterprises remain cautious because of costs, skills gaps and infrastructure limits. The report notes that lower- and middle-income economies face a double challenge: they are expected to absorb a growing working-age population while racing to modernize skills fast enough to avoid large-scale underemployment.
The data suggest that AI is changing tasks more than it is erasing entire professions. Clerical, administrative and routine data-entry roles are among the fastest-declining globally, while technology-related roles — such as AI and machine learning specialists, software developers and cybersecurity professionals — are among the fastest-growing in percentage terms.
Growth meets pressure
For Southeast Asia, 2025 highlighted the tension between demographic advantage and skills readiness. The region continues to benefit from a relatively young and expanding workforce, but employers increasingly report difficulty finding workers with the right mix of digital, analytical and human-centered skills.
The WEF report estimates that, on average, 39 percent of workers’ existing skills worldwide will be transformed or become outdated by 2030, even after a slowdown in the pace of disruption compared with the pandemic years. In economies such as the Philippines, where many workers are employed in services, business process outsourcing, retail and informal sectors, that transition poses acute risks if reskilling efforts fall short.
Frontline roles — including delivery drivers, construction workers, farmworkers and care-economy jobs — are expected to grow in absolute numbers, reflecting ongoing urbanization, e-commerce and aging populations. However, these jobs often offer lower wages and weaker job security, raising concerns that job growth may not always translate into better livelihoods.
Reskilling becomes the real battleground
If 2025 proved anything, it is that the debate has shifted from whether jobs will disappear to whether workers can realistically transition in time. The WEF projects that if the global workforce were reduced to 100 people, 59 would need training by 2030; yet 11 of them are unlikely to receive the reskilling or upskilling needed, leaving them at higher risk of displacement.
Employers say skills gaps are now the biggest barrier to business transformation. About 85 percent plan to prioritize workforce upskilling, while 40 percent anticipate reducing staff where skills become less relevant and 50 percent plan to move workers from declining to growing roles. In Southeast Asia, that ambition collides with practical constraints: limited training budgets, uneven internet access and education systems that struggle to keep pace with fast-changing industry needs.
The most in-demand skills in 2025 were not purely technical. Analytical thinking topped the list, followed by resilience, flexibility and agility, leadership and social influence. AI and big data skills ranked highest among fast-growing technical competencies, but creative thinking and lifelong learning also rose sharply in importance.
Mixed outlook heading into 2026
Critically, the jobs debate in 2025 exposed growing inequality between workers who can adapt and those who cannot. Without clear policy intervention, the report warns that AI-led transformation could widen income gaps and deepen employment insecurity, particularly in emerging economies.
At the same time, the year offered reasons for cautious optimism. Global unemployment remained historically low, and AI-driven productivity gains showed early signs of enabling workers to do higher-value tasks rather than simply replacing them. In Southeast Asia, governments and industry groups began aligning more closely on digital-skills programs, signaling a recognition that human capital — not technology alone — will determine who benefits from AI.
As 2025 ends, the lesson for the Philippines and the region is clear: artificial intelligence is no longer a future shock but a present reality. Whether it becomes a force for inclusive growth or deeper disruption will depend less on algorithms and more on how decisively societies invest in people.