ILO: Changing landscape of skills in the age of AI

• September 11, 2026
• admin

This report from the International Labour Organization examines how AI adoption is changing workplace tasks and, consequently, the skills employers are likely to need. Rather than focusing only on job replacement, it highlights automation, augmentation and changes in how work is organised. As routine cognitive tasks become increasingly automated, workers may take on more complex activities requiring analytical and critical thinking, creative problem-solving and decision-making. Digital and data literacy are also becoming more important as workers increasingly interact with AI-enabled tools and systems.

The report stresses that effective human-AI collaboration requires subject-matter expertise and the ability to interpret, contextualise and oversee AI outputs. Socio-emotional skills, including communication, collaboration, empathy, resilience and leadership, remain important because AI is limited in complex human interaction. Manual skills are affected more unevenly: routine physical work may decline, while refined manual abilities remain relevant for non-routine tasks and unpredictable environments. The report therefore points towards a more human-centred combination of technical, cognitive and interpersonal capabilities.

The study also identifies growing demand for specialised technical AI skills and presents AI literacy as a foundational capability for workers and citizens. It recommends embedding AI literacy across education, adult learning and workplace training, while updating curricula, qualifications, occupational standards and assessment. More broadly, it calls for greater emphasis on adaptability, learning-to-learn, judgement, resilience and human agency. The report stresses that the impact of AI depends not only on technology itself, but also on workplace organisation, employer practices and education and labour-market institutions.