The Future Skills Framework

In this study, future skills are defined as skills that will become more important for professional work and/or participation in society in the next five years – across all industries and branches.

In concrete terms, this means that future skills refer to a key subset of all skills needed in the future, on the one hand covering the next five years, and on the other in terms of increasing cross-disciplinary importance. Under this definition of future skills, all skills are excluded that are either industry or subject-specific, or whose importance will decline relative to other skills. They continue to be vital in many sub-sections of the economy, and thus remain a central focus of training and further training. The horizon of five years was chosen because it is long enough to realistically realize the effects of developments that can already be seen today. At the same time, it is also short enough to draw concrete conclusions about future skills despite the rapid technological development.

Under this horizon, digitization and new working forms will pose two challenges for businesses, both at the top and broadly (see graphic). First, the job portfolio will continue to shift toward IT roles, the recruitment for which will pose an increasing problem in the areas of transformative technologies in particular, for example blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. Secondly, the forms of work and activities will change for the vast majority of all employees, many of whom will therefore need a new set of digital and non-digital key qualifications.

 
Based on the statements of HR officers and drawing on current concepts, the Stifterverband and McKinsey have developed a Future Skills Framework that differentiates between two categories:

Technological skills cover those skills that are needed to shape transformative technologies. These include established transformative technologies such as the Internet (web development, UX design) as well as emerging fields (blockchain technology and smart hardware). One particularly important area is the ability to analyze complex data, and the related development of artificial intelligence. Those who master these technological skills possess the latest IT skills and are able to apply it. This category will create new job profiles across all sectors, for example data scientists. Even today, many job profiles are dominated by technological skills, particularly in start-ups.

Basic digital skills as a second category refers to skills that allow people to play an active role in a digitized world. These skills will be needed in future both in a person’s professional life and to participate in society (Digital Citizenship), and are increasingly demanded by employers. They include digital knowledge generation (digital learning) and confident handling of online data (digital literacy), as well as the ability to work collaboratively. Those who have mastered these skills can work in collaborative and agile teams, interact effectively, and make critical decisions in an increasingly digital world.

While only individual people require specific technological skills, the basic digital skills should be mastered by as many people as possible.

Classic skills represent the third category. These include skills and abilities—for example adaptability, creativity, and perseverance—that will gain in importance in working life in the coming years. Those who possess these classic skills will find new situations easier to handle and be able to analyze and solve problems in an increasingly volatile and complex working world.

In order for companies to survive in future, it is vital to deliver a mix of technological skills, basic digital skills and classic skills. It is not enough simply to employ employees who "only" have individual, specific skills. The challenge is to select or train people in such a way that they offer the broadest possible range of all future skills relevant to their working context.

This Future Skills Framework which covers the current competences required by business and society was developed by Stifterverband and McKinsey in the summer of 2018 in co-operation with companies. For further details see the dissussion paper "Future Skills: Which skills are lacking in Germany" published in September 2018.