Time for action to prepare young people with the skills needed for the future workforce

This blog post was first published the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Leader Magazine on Friday 10 October 2025.

The global economy and world of work is transforming at a rapid pace. Advances in technology, alongside demographic, environmental and economic changes are reshaping what tomorrow’s jobs will look like.

The jobs being created are predominantly high-skilled roles, whereas lower-skill jobs are disappearing. Seizing the opportunities whilst minimising the costs of change requires a strong and collective response across government, employers and the education system. This will be critical in order to help affected workers re-skill and upskill, and to support young people to develop the right skills alongside acquiring knowledge whilst they are in the education system.

NFER’s five-year research programme, The Skills Imperative 2035: Essential skills for tomorrow's workforce, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, has generated projections showing what the UK labour market might look like by 2035 and has forecast what skills will be in greatest demand in future. A final report, reflecting on what we have learned across the programme, and offering key conclusions and recommendations, will be published in November.

What we know so far

Our research estimates that 12 million people work in declining occupations such as retail, customer service and administration. Up to 1.2 million (10%) of these jobs in these occupations could disappear from the labour market by 2035. This could limit the opportunities available to those young people who leave education with low levels of skills and qualifications.  

Job growth is forecast to be primarily in professional occupations, for example, science, engineering or legal. However, these jobs typically require high levels of skills, alongside higher levels of qualifications. Without action now, there is a risk that young people will leave the education system without the skills and qualifications needed to enter growth areas.

Based on NFER’s labour market projections, we identify six Essential Employment Skills (EES) which are very important today, but will be even more vital in 2035.These are:

1. Collaboration
2. Communication
3. Creative thinking
4. Information literacy
5. Organising, planning and prioritising
6. Problem solving and decision making

These are not ‘nice-to-haves’. They are the capabilities that will help today’s young people access jobs in growing areas, navigate uncertainty, learn continuously, and shape their own futures.

NFER’s research estimates that around 3.7 million workers (13% of all workers) have substantial EES deficiencies (that is, not having enough of these skills to fully meet the requirements of their jobs). Concerningly, our research also suggests this may get worse – by 2035 around seven million workers may not have the EES they need to do their jobs effectively.

How can we best prepare children for their future careers?

Our research suggests sustained skill development, working hand in hand with knowledge acquisition, and starting from early childhood, is key to meeting future workforce needs. The findings highlight how inequalities in young people’s socio-emotional skills are greater in England than any of the 30 other countries in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 data that we analysed.

This is largely due to greater variability in England in children’s ability to control their emotions and stress levels, and in their assertiveness and perseverance. 

Our study suggests that socio-emotional and cognitive skills are precursors to EES, and that this could create a greater barrier for young people in England entering the labour market compared to their peers in other countries.

It is possible for the education system and policymakers in England to play a bigger role in supporting young people’s social and emotional skill development, without this subtracting from children’s development of core knowledge or cognitive skills through the curriculum.

If children’s cognitive and behavioural skills gaps, which emerge in early years, can be narrowed early in life and as they progress through education, more young people may find themselves better positioned to enter growth occupations in the future.

However, currently, these inequalities can widen for many pupils and become more entrenched as they get older. All is not lost however, as there does appear to be considerable scope to influence young people’s outcomes at every stage of their development.

How educators might play their part

Senior leaders and teachers are already working hard to prepare students for life beyond school or college. Our findings point to practical steps that educators can take now, provided they have the resources and backing to do so. These include:

• Recognise the value of essential employment skills and the role of schools and colleges in developing these skills: Make essential employment skills a core part of your school or college ethos, culture and the language used by leaders, educators and students across the school or college
• Adopt a clear skills framework: Systematically benchmark, develop and track young people’s essential employment skills against clearly defined phase and
  age-related expectations.
• Encourage teachers to help young people to develop their essential employment skills alongside the acquisition of knowledge: Encourage teachers to look across their curriculum and identify opportunities where essential employment skills can be consciously taught, practised and measured
• Shape your school or college careers curriculum around skills outcomes: Centre careers education on developing students’ essential employment skills and encourage employer partners to structure work experience and encounters around the same skill outcomes.
• Reinvigorate adult skills: Support lifelong upskilling and reskilling, focusing on education and training that workers in declining jobs that can fit around work and family commitments.

Government role critical if change is to be achieved

Our research demonstrates that schools cannot do this alone. Systemic, future-ready education requires coordinated action, and as a result, should focus on a range of policies and strategies, including:

• Ensuring that all young people leave education with a strong base of EES.
• Increasing the pipeline of young people leaving education with the technical skills required to enter growth occupations.
• Strengthening the education workforce, from early years educators to teachers in the tertiary education system.

Looking ahead

The final Skills Imperative 2035 report in November will provide a roadmap for action. But the direction of travel is already clear. Schools need to adapt to changing job and skills requirements but they need appropriate government support to make it happen.

Preparing for 2035 is a shared mission. By working together, schools, policymakers, employers, and communities, can ensure every young person leaves education with both the knowledge and skills that can support them in life and help them to succeed in the workforce of tomorrow.