3 Work Trends - Issue 50

Key risks for businesses in 2025, how effective leaders can navigate change, lessons on AI and skilling from experts – these are the stories covered in this issue of the World Economic Forum’s 3 Work Trends newsletter, your guide to the future of work and education in an ever-changing world.

1. What #business executives are most worried about in 2025

Ahead of the launch of the World Economic Forum 's Global Risks Report in January 2025, Zurich Insurance Group and Marsh McLennan have released a digest of the Forum's 'executive opinion survey'.

Gathering insights from 11,000 business professionals across 121 countries, the survey revealed four top concerns.

• Economic threats. Business leaders across the G20 countries consider economic threats, such as inflation, and labour and talent shortages, as the top risks over the next two years.
• Interconnected risks: Economic and societal challenges. Societal risks are closely linked to economic risks, acting both as a cause and consequence.
• Environmental risks. Extreme weather events featured in the G20’s top five risks, as the fifth biggest risk.
• Cyber risks. Issues such as misinformation, disinformation and the adverse outcomes of artificial intelligence technologies are particularly worrying.

Learn more in this article from Peter Giger , Group Chief Risk Officer, Zurich Insurance Group.

2. How effective #leaders navigate change and disrupt sectors

AlixPartners ' annual Disruption Index surveys leaders to understand the biggest opportunities and challenges they see, all while identifying the tipping points ahead in everything from global labour markets to technologies.

In this episode of Meet the Leader, AlixPartners ' CEO Simon Freakley breaks down surprising insights from the Index’s fifth edition, including the ways leaders have become more adept at handling change since COVID and the skills CEOs say they need to strengthen now.

3. Three things we learned about #AI and #skilling from experts

By 2027, businesses predict that almost half (44%) of workers’ core skills will be disrupted, according to World Economic Forum research. The Forum's upcoming Future of Jobs Report 2025, launching on 8 January, will shed further light on the state of workplace disruption.

With 42% of business tasks expected to be automated by 2027, employers and employees are being forced to quickly rethink skilling needs.

An expert panel session – Skills in the Age of AI – at the Forum's 2024 Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils looked at what workers and organizations need to do to stay relevant in the future of work.

Here are three key takeaways from the session:

• Jobs will be created, disrupted and improved
• Workers of tomorrow will need soft skills
• Education needs to respond faster to AI

Learn more in this article.

Share your thoughts and experiences below in the comments. For more detailed analysis, follow the World Economic Forum. See you in the next issue for more updates on the future of #work.