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Public & Social Sector

Defining the skills citizens will need in the

future world of work

June 25, 2021 | Article

By Marco Dondi, Julia Klier, Frédéric Panier, and Jörg Schubert

To future-proof citizens’ ability to work, they will require new skills—but which
ones? A survey of 18,000 people in 15 countries suggests those that governments
may wish to prioritize.

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 Article (19 pages)

W
e know that digital and AI technologies are transforming the world of work and that today’s

workforce will need to learn new skills and learn to continually adapt as new occupations

emerge. We also know that the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated this transformation . We are less clear,
however, about the specific skills tomorrow’s workers will require.

Research by the McKinsey Global Institute has looked at the kind of jobs that will be lost, as well as

those that will be created, as automation, AI, and robotics take hold. And it has inferred the type of

high-level skills that will become increasingly important as a result.[ 1 ] The need for manual and physical
skills, as well as basic cognitive ones, will decline, but demand for technological, social and emotional,

and higher cognitive skills will grow.

Governments are keen to help their citizens develop in these areas, but it is hard to devise curricula

and the best learning strategies without being more precise about the skills needed. It is difficult to
teach what is not well defined.

We, therefore, conducted research that we hope will help definitions take shape and could contribute

to future-proof citizens’ skills for the world of work.[ 2 ] The research identified a set of 56 foundational

skills that will benefit all citizens and showed that higher proficiency in them is already associated with
a higher likelihood of employment, higher incomes, and job satisfaction.[ 3 ]

Defining foundational skills for citizens

Some work will, of course, be specialized. But in a labor market that is more automated, digital, and

dynamic, all citizens will benefit from having a set of foundational skills that help them fulfill the

following three criteria, no matter the sector in which they work or their occupation:

add value beyond what can be done by automated systems and intelligent machines

operate in a digital environment

continually adapt to new ways of working and new occupations

We used academic research and McKinsey’s experience in adult training to define what these

foundational skills might be (Exhibit 1). We started from four broad skill categories—cognitive, digital,

interpersonal, and self-leadership—then identified 13 separate skill groups belonging to those

categories.[ 4 ] Communication and mental flexibility are two skill groups that belong to the cognitive

category, for example, while teamwork effectiveness belongs to the interpersonal category.
Exhibit 1

Looking for still more precision, we identified 56 distinct elements of talent (DELTAs) that fall within

these skills groups. We call them DELTAs, rather than skills, because they are a mix of skills and
attitudes. “Adaptability” and “coping with uncertainty” are attitudes, for example.[ 5 ]
DELTA proficiency and outcomes

From here, we conducted two further pieces of research. First, we sought to gauge the level of
proficiency in the 56 DELTAs among today’s workers compared with the level we believe will be

required to future-proof citizens’ ability to work. Second, we sought to gauge whether proficiency in
these DELTAs was already associated with certain work-related outcomes.

Proficiency

To ascertain proficiency levels, we defined a desirable level of proficiency in each of the 56 DELTAs,
then devised a psychometric questionnaire to assess respondents’ proficiency against this bar.

Eighteen thousand people from 15 countries completed the online questionnaire and were given a
score on a scale of 0 to 100 for each DELTA (see the sidebar “Example: Evaluating proficiency levels for

DELTAs”).

The results showed respondents’ proficiency was lowest in two skill groups in the digital category—
software use and development and understanding digital systems. Proficiency in the skill groups for

communication and planning and ways of working—both in the cognitive category—was also lower
than average (Exhibit 2).
Exhibit 2

Overall, survey participants with a university degree had higher average proficiency scores across

56 distinct elements of talent, suggesting that those with higher levels of education are better

prepared for changes in the workplace.

We also examined whether proficiency was linked to education. Overall, survey participants with a

university degree had higher average DELTA proficiency scores than those without, suggesting—
perhaps not surprisingly—that participants with higher levels of education are better prepared for

changes in the workplace. However, a higher level of education is not associated with higher
proficiency in all DELTAs. The association holds true for many DELTAs in the cognitive and digital
categories. But for many within the self-leadership and interpersonal categories, such as “self-
confidence,” “coping with uncertainty,” “courage and risk-taking,” “empathy,” “coaching,” and “resolving

conflicts,” there is no such association.[ 6 ] For some DELTAs, more education was associated with lower
proficiency, “humility” being an example.

Exhibit 3 lists the DELTAs where proficiency has the highest and lowest correlation with the level of

education. (Some have a negative coefficient.)

Exhibit 3

Outcomes
We went on to test whether proficiency in the DELTAs was already helping people in the world of work;
the results showed that survey respondents with higher DELTA proficiencies were, on average, more

likely to be those that were employed, with higher incomes, and higher job satisfaction. Different

DELTAs were more strongly associated with these three work-related outcomes, however.

Holding all variables constant—including demographic variables and proficiency in all other elements—
we found employment was most strongly associated with proficiency in several DELTAs within the self-

leadership category, namely “adaptability,” “coping with uncertainty,” “synthesizing messages,” and

“achievement orientation” (Exhibit 4, part 1).[ 7 ]

High incomes were most strongly associated with proficiency in the four skill groups where overall

proficiency levels were lowest among respondents—namely understanding digital systems, software

use and development, planning and ways of working, and communication (the first two fall within the
digital category and the latter two within the cognitive category).[ 8 ]

Digital proficiency seems to be particularly associated with higher incomes: a respondent with higher

digital proficiency across all digital DELTAs was 41 percent more likely to earn a top-quintile income
than respondents with lower digital proficiency.[ 9 ] The equivalent comparison was 30 percent for

cognitive DELTAs, 24 percent for self-leadership DELTAs, and 14 percent for interpersonal DELTAs.

That said, the four DELTAs most strongly associated with high incomes were “work-plan development”

and “asking the right questions,” both in the cognitive category; “self-confidence,” a self-leadership
DELTA; and “organizational awareness,” an interpersonal DELTA (Exhibit 4, part 2).[ 10 ]
Exhibit 4

Prev 01 — 03

Job satisfaction is also associated with certain DELTAs, especially those in the self-leadership

category. Holding all variables, including income, constant, “self-motivation and wellness,” “coping with

uncertainty,” and “self-confidence,” had the highest impact on respondents’ job satisfaction (Exhibit 4,
part 3).[ 11 ]

Notably, proficiency in two self-leadership DELTAs—“self-confidence” and “coping with uncertainty”—

ranked among the top three most predictive DELTAs for two out of the three outcomes (Exhibit 5).
Exhibit 5

How DELTAs could help shape education and

adult training

Our findings help define the particular skills citizens are likely to require in the future world of work and

suggest how proficiency in them can influence work-related outcomes, namely employment, income,

and job satisfaction. This, in turn, suggests three actions governments may wish to take.

Reform education systems

Our research suggests governments could consider reviewing and updating curricula to focus more

strongly on the DELTAs. Given the weak correlation between proficiency in self-leadership and
interpersonal DELTAs and higher levels of education, a strong curricula focus on these soft skills may

be appropriate.

Governments could also consider leading further research. Many governments and academics have

started to define the taxonomies of the skills citizens will require, but few have done so at the level
described here. Moreover, few, if any, have undertaken the considerable amount of research required

to identify how best to develop and assess such skills. For instance, for each DELTA within the

curriculum, research would be required to define progression and proficiency levels achievable at
different ages and to design and test developmental strategies and assessment models. The solutions

for different DELTAs are likely to differ widely. For example, the solutions to develop and assess “self-

awareness and self-management” would differ from those required for “work-plan development or

“data analysis.”

In addition, governments could consider setting up institutions for research and innovation in

education to fund the research, facilitate researchers’ access to schools to test innovative solutions,

and establish which methods work for which DELTAs. They could also make the emerging data and
insights available to researchers and educators in the private sector.

Reform adult-training systems

The majority of respondents we surveyed—like the majority of people in society at large—were no

longer in national education systems. Raising proficiency in the DELTAs would therefore require

continuous adult training. The fact that proficiency in digital DELTAs—shown to improve the chances of

achieving higher incomes—was lower among older survey respondents who had left the national
educational system illustrates this point.

The curricula of adult-training courses may also have to change. For example, our research has shown

that self-leadership DELTAs may be particularly important for employment outcomes, yet these are not
commonly covered by adult-training programs. For example, in an online scan of adult-training

programs, we found that courses or modules to develop DELTAs within the skill groups of goal

achievement or self-awareness and self-management were 20 times less common than those to

develop communication DELTAs. That could be an urgent gap to fill to adequately respond to the wave
of unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specific actions that might encourage relevant adult learning include the following:
 Establish an AI aggregator of training programs to attract adult learners and encourage lifelong

learning. AI algorithms could guide users on whether they need to upskill or reskill for a new

profession and shortlist relevant training programs. To develop accurate algorithms, governments

would need to collect and organize data on market demand for jobs and skills, as well as data on
training programs. Programs listed should include those that teach DELTAs correlated to work-

related outcomes. Self-leadership DELTAs could be particularly important given their link to

employment.

Introduce a skill-based certification system. Occupation-based qualifications risk becoming

outdated rapidly as occupations requiring new skills emerge. Hence, skills-based accreditation
may better suit employers’ needs. Providers could develop programs that cover the practical

skills and DELTAs required to perform a certain occupation, but add new components or remove

old ones as those occupations evolved. Several AI start-ups have developed algorithms capable

of identifying and updating the skill sets required for different occupations. Governments could
adapt these to enable a dynamic, skill-based certification system.

Fund schemes that encourage a higher focus on DELTAs. Some governments award lifelong

learning grants to their citizens, who can enroll in training programs within a national aggregator.

To help equip citizens for the future world of work, governments could funnel funds toward

programs that include the DELTAs associated with employment. For example, trainees could be
offered spending vouchers for particular programs only, while funding to program providers could

be conditional upon employment outcomes or the provision of training modules that include

certain DELTAs.

Ensure affordability of lifelong education

Most children around the world have access to primary and secondary schooling, but not all of it is of

high quality, and early education for the very young—the best age at which to develop certain mindsets
and attitudes—is unaffordable for most people in most countries. In addition, very few countries have

worked out a system to provide affordable access to quality adult training.

Hence, just as the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century drove an expansion of access to education,
today’s technological revolution should drive further expansion to ensure universal, high-quality,

affordable access to education from early childhood to retirement and to ensure that curricula include

the DELTAs that will future-proof citizens’ skills in the world of work.
1. For more information, see “Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce,” May 23, 2018.
2. For previous McKinsey work on the role of governments in adapting to the future of work, see Marco Dondi,
Solveigh Hieronimus, Julia Klier, Peter Puskas, Dirk Schmautzer, and Jörg Schubert, “A government blueprint to
adapt the ecosystem to the future of work,” February 7, 2020.
3. The research was conducted in 2019.
4. To drive toward a more detailed definition of future skills required, we found it useful to divide the social and
emotional category used by the McKinsey Global Institute into two separate ones: interpersonal and self-leadership.
5. A still finer segmentation of each skill group into more DELTAs would be possible. We limited ourselves, however,
to DELTAs that require a distinct approach to their development and assessment.
6. Predictive models based on three different statistical techniques failed to find a correlation.
7. These DELTAs were selected based on their individual contribution—holding all other variables constant—to the
probability of a survey participant being employed among those whose income was below the median or those with
no income. People with income above the median were excluded to avoid skewed results because of their higher
proficiency in DELTAs.
8. These skill groups show the largest difference in proficiency between survey participants with income below the
median income in their country and those in the top quintile.
9. Our assessment model had three levels of proficiency (3 being the highest level) for each of the 56 DELTAs. Here,
respondents with higher digital proficiency are those judged to be at level 3. Those with lower digital proficiency are
those at level 2. All else being constant, a respondent at level 3 is 41% more likely to be earning a top-quintile
income than a respondent at level 2.
10. These DELTAs were selected based on their individual contribution—holding all other variables constant—to the
probability of a survey participant being in the top quintile for income.
11. These DELTAs were selected based on their individual contribution—holding all other variables constant—to the
probability of a survey participant being either “fulfilled and satisfied” or “satisfied” with their job, as opposed to
“somewhat satisfied” or “dissatisfied.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Marco Dondi is a consultant in McKinsey’s Geneva office, Julia Klier is a partner in the
Munich office, Frédéric Panier is a partner in the Brussels office, and Jörg Schubert is a
senior partner in the Dubai office.

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