The Skills Imperative 2035

Over the past five years, NFER has led a strategic research partnership, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, to examine how jobs and skills requirements are likely to change and how the education and skills systems need to respond to meet future skills needs.

AI and automation-related technologies - coupled with major demographic, environmental and economic changes - are having a significant impact on the jobs that exist in the labour market and the skills needed to do those jobs.

The pace of change is accelerating. Job growth is increasingly concentrated in professional and associate professional occupations that typically require higher levels of qualifications and technical skills, whilst most low- and mid-skill level occupations are declining.

Skills such as problem solving, communication and collaboration are also becoming increasingly important. These changes have the potential to widen existing inequalities in society and lead to widespread under-employment, meaning that managing the change is essential.

Over the past five years, we have:

projected what jobs are likely to exist in the labour market in 2035
identified the essential employment skills that will be in greatest demand across the workforce in the future
projected the demand for, supply of, and gaps in these essential employment skills in 2035, drawing on findings from a first-of-its-kind survey of essential employment skills amongst young people and adults aged 16-65 in England
established which professions are likely to benefit and suffer from these projected changes, and how we can seize the opportunities on offer whilst minimising the costs of disruption in the labour market
investigated how young people’s skills develop and the impact of the education system and other mechanisms
explored how young people’s skill development compares across countries and what we can learn from high-performing countries beyond the UK.

The multi-disciplinary team led by NFER will publish the final report from the project in November, drawing out the implications of our findings for policy makers, educators, employers and civil society.

You can view all the previous reports as part of the project here, as well as a project summary booklet (produced in January 2025)

Throughout the five-year programme, we have worked collaboratively with our co-investigators and employers, policy makers, and education leaders to provide practical insights and evidence, which will inform longer-term planning to address future skills needs.

The Skills Imperative 2035

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Strategic Advisory Board

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