What We Know Now About Supporting the Workforce in an Age of AI

The exponential advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continues to reshape the labor market and workforce skills, and the rise of agentic AI—systems capable of autonomous decision-making and complex task completion—is poised to have an even greater impact on the way work is done. In a world of AI agents, human work may look like Ethan Mollick’s “cyborg model” of interacting with AI, where tasks are deeply intertwined between humans and machines, or like an HR department for an AI workforce, as Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, put it at CES last month. ?

As AI progresses, we continue to search for more definitive answers for how AI will actually reshape jobs and skills. Concrete answers are slim, but we do find two consistent themes:?

1. AI skills are increasingly in demand across most jobs. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report found “AI and big data” skills were increasing in importance more than any other skill category and LinkedIn’s data found that job postings are seven times more likely to list AI skills in jobs that have not traditionally required AI skills, like recruiters and health care professionals. New research from the Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work confirms this: we found that the number of job postings that referenced “AI” or “artificial intelligence” between December 2022 and December 2024 jumped 108%. This growth was consistent regardless of degree requirement for the posting, from high school (also 108% growth) to associate’s (114% growth), to bachelor’s (125% growth). We also saw growth across industries, from human resources (419% growth) to customer service (70% growth).??
2. Durable, human skills are on the rise alongside AI skills. More than 80% of workers who regularly use AI feel that human skills will be even more important as AI use increases. According to LinkedIn, communication was the top in-demand skill in 2024. When examining a subset of high-growth occupations that offer pathways to economic opportunity for people without bachelor’s degrees, such as medical assistant and customer service jobs, we also found that human skills are rapidly and consistently increasing in demand from employers, while specialized digital skills like cloud computing or database modeling are churning faster than ever before—putting added pressure on training providers and further reinforcing the importance of developing durable skills in the age of AI. ?

Helping learners prepare, and workers and small businesses adapt??

Education and training organizations are on the front lines of preparing workers for jobs that are being reshaped rapidly. A few general themes emerged in our latest research; training providers are:?

• Helping their staff gain more familiarity with AI, through grassroots experimentation as well as structured curriculum and workshops??

• Integrating AI into their program offerings, including AI competency courses, with a few training providers embedding AI training and usage into specific domain areas??

• Incorporating human and professional skills into hire-ready frameworks or add-on offerings?

• Engaging with employers on AI use and skills requirements?

Small businesses, which often serve as anchors of economic growth and workforce development in their communities, can also play a role in preparing workers in an age of AI. Promisingly, though small business adoption of generative AI (40%) lags behind that of large enterprises (65%), they are generally optimistic about its potential to be a growth engine and create quality jobs. In our surveys and conversations with small business leaders, we found that over half believed AI would positively impact job quality, such as wages, benefits, flexibility, or autonomy, and did not anticipate specific jobs in their business being replaced by AI. However, workforce readiness remains a key challenge in broader AI adoption. Small businesses can lean into the promise of AI by:?

• Investing in foundational AI competency training for all workers and preparing them to maintain human oversight of AI outputs?

• Engaging employees and seeking worker voice in the AI adoption process, to co-create use cases and governance frameworks, as well as allowing workers to share their experiences with adoption?

• Encouraging a culture of experimentation with AI tools?

We all have a role to play in preparing workers for an AI-powered world. Check out our new resources to help training providers and small businesses support this vision.???

In the Headlines: AI & the Future of Work and Learning?

• Alongside the many executive orders he signed on his first day in office, President Trump repealed the Biden Administration’s 2023 AI executive order.?

• Overreliance on generative AI may negatively impact critical thinking skills, according to a new study from Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University.?

• During a speech at the Paris AI Action Summit last week, Vice President JD Vance declared: “This administration wants to be very clear about one last point: We will always center American workers in our AI policy.”??

• Earlier this month, California State University announced a public-private initiative with several major tech companies that will make AI training and tools available to its entire student body, faculty, and staff, making it the country’s first AI-powered university system.?

• In collaboration with KPMG, the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s AI Governance Alliance released a white paper, Blueprint for Intelligent Economies, that provides guidance for nations on inclusive development and adoption of AI. WEF’s AI Governance Alliance also released a series of white papers that explores the deployment of AI across industries and sectors, including energy, health care, and advanced manufacturing.?

• A handful of states began the new year with AI legislation that has implications for employers. ?

• Axxess, in partnership with the Council of State Associations and the Forum of States, released a report on trends in the care at home industry, which includes provider sentiments around integrating AI into their work.?

• Goldman Sachs recently launched an AI assistant to around 10,000 of its employees, making it one of the latest companies on Wall Street to integrate AI tools at scale, a pattern that may be signaling significant layoffs in the banking and finance industries.?

• A recent article from the AI team at Purpose argues for the importance of centering workers in narratives around AI and work to enable equal access to economic advancement. ?

New AI to Know?

• OpenAI has released three new models and capabilities over the past month: Operator: an agentic AI that can perform tasks online for a user; o3-mini: the company’s latest ChatGPT reasoning model; and Deep Research: an agentic capability that can perform online research and write detailed reports on any topic.?

• Late last month, Chinese company, DeepSeek, released an AI reasoning model, R1, that’s cheaper and faster than ChatGPT’s o1, though it may pose more security risks. DeepSeek also released an image-generation model, Janus-Pro.?

• Workday is expanding its agentic AI offerings, launching a new Agent System of Record to help organizations govern and manage agent fleets, as well as four new role-based agents focused on contracting, payroll, financial audits, and corporate policy. Glean also launched an agent-building environment.???

• Also last week, Adobe launched Firefly Video Model, a first-of-its-kind generative AI video model that is “IP-friendly and commercially safe”; it’s currently available in public beta.?
• ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, released two AI video models, OmniHuman and Goku.??

The Latest From JFF and the Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work?

New Executive in Residence for the Center for AI?

Please join us in welcoming Brian Gonzalez to JFF as an executive in residence to drive future U.S. and international strategy and partnerships around JFF’s work on AI. Brian recently retired from Intel as executive director of government partnerships and initiatives. ?

Fireside Chat Series?

Reshaping Workforce Training for the AI Era?

Friday, February 21, 2025, 3:30-4:30 p.m. ET?

Our monthly fireside chat series is a platform for us to explore the impact of AI on jobs and skills, elevate use cases, and highlight the implications for all stakeholders in the learn-and-work ecosystem.??

February’s event will feature a conversation with Bertina Ceccarelli, CEO of NPower; Claudia Ruiz, senior policy analyst for civil rights at UnidosUS; and Samir Saber, dean at the Digital & Information Technology Center of Excellence and executive director of workforce technology at Houston Community College. They will discuss how training providers are adapting to the impacts of artificial intelligence on the workforce, including use cases for internal AI adoption; incorporating AI and human skills development into program offerings; and the importance of collaboration with stakeholders across the learn-and-work ecosystem.?

Register here to reserve your spot!??

Upcoming Events?

Build a Stronger, More Resilient Workforce With AI?

Tuesday, March 4, 1-2:30 p.m. ET |

Small and medium-sized businesses: Are you interested in learning more about the impact AI will have on your business and employees? Do you want to get ahead of the curve and build your business's resilience with a stronger workforce???

Join us for an exciting webinar where we’ll cover:??

• The anticipated changes in jobs and roles in businesses?

• Best practices to prepare and strengthen your workforce?

• How to build a worker-centric strategy for your business

Register here.??

2025 Horizons Summit: Dare To Be Brave???

June 10-11 | New Orleans???

Join us at JFF’s annual summit, Horizons, which brings together top leaders, investors, educators, policymakers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, philanthropists, corporations, and other professionals interested in driving meaningful change in education and workforce systems. #JFFHorizons?

Your Voice?

We want to craft this newsletter with our community to create a dialogue around leveraging AI to drive opportunities for workers and learners. We would love to know what you're working on related to the questions we raise and what ideas you have for what this newsletter could include to best support your work. Please send us your thoughts. We look forward to hearing from you!??