Companies are preparing for artificial intelligence in two ways at once: they expect some work to disappear, but they are putting even more emphasis on helping existing employees adapt. A new World Economic Forum study suggests that AI training, not immediate job cutting, is the bigger priority for many employers.
The WEF's "Future of Jobs Report 2025" surveyed 1,000 companies worldwide. Its findings point to a labor market shaped by automation, hiring for future-ready skills, and a broad need for reskilling before 2030.
Training Comes Before Layoffs
The most striking gap in the report is between companies planning job cuts and companies planning workforce training. About 41% of surveyed companies plan to cut jobs that AI could handle. At the same time, 77% are focused on training their existing workforce to work with AI systems.
That does not mean job losses are a minor issue. A 41% share is substantial, and it shows that many companies do see AI as a substitute for certain kinds of work. But the larger training figure suggests that employers are not treating AI simply as a replacement technology. They are also treating it as a tool that workers will need to use.
The report's numbers should be read with caution. The source notes that these figures could change drastically and quickly depending on how AI evolves. That caveat matters because business plans around AI are being formed while the technology itself is still changing.
Upskilling Is A Global Priority
The focus on upskilling appears across economic categories. High-income countries lead, with 87% of companies prioritizing training. Higher middle-income countries follow closely at 84%, while lower middle-income countries are at 82%.
Those figures show that AI training is not just a concern for the richest markets. Across surveyed economies, companies expect existing workers to need new capabilities. The gap between income groups exists, but it is not large enough to change the main conclusion: upskilling is becoming a central business response to AI.
Process automation remains important, but its position is more complicated. It ranks as companies' second choice, with 73% now focused on automation. That is down from 80% in 2023.
The report also shows a sharper geographic split in automation plans. In high-income countries, 77% of companies plan to automate. In lower middle-income countries, the figure is 57%.
Together, those findings suggest that companies are still interested in automation, but their strategies are not uniform. Some are moving quickly toward automating processes, while others are placing relatively more weight on training, workforce planning, or other responses.
The 2030 Labor Market Could Grow And Shrink At Once
The WEF report does not describe the future of work as a simple collapse in employment. It predicts that new technologies and market shifts will create about 170 million new jobs by 2030, equal to about 14% of current global employment.
At the same time, the report expects 92 million existing jobs, or 8%, to disappear. The net result is still 78 million new jobs.
That mix is important. The forecast points to a labor market in which the main challenge is not only the number of jobs, but the fit between workers and changing roles. Jobs may be created in some areas while disappearing in others, leaving companies and employees to manage a difficult transition.
Many employers are already planning for that shift. The report says 70% of companies expect to hire workers with future-ready skills. Another 51% plan to move employees from shrinking departments to growing ones.
That kind of redeployment could become one of the most important workforce strategies around AI. If a department contracts because certain tasks can be handled by AI or automation, the company may still need employees elsewhere. The challenge is whether workers can move fast enough into those expanding areas.
Why Human Skills Still Matter
The WEF report also points to limits in AI automation. Tasks that require physical skills, nuanced judgment, or human qualities such as empathy and active listening are likely to remain in human hands for now.
That limitation helps explain why training is such a prominent response. If AI can take over some tasks but not the full range of human work, companies need people who can operate around AI systems, judge their outputs, and continue doing work that machines do not handle well.
The scale of the training challenge is large. The WEF estimates that 59% of the global workforce will need additional training by 2030 to keep pace with changing job requirements.
That figure connects the report's separate findings into one picture. Companies are preparing to automate, hire, redeploy, and train because the skills required for work are expected to change. AI may remove some roles, but it also raises the bar for workers in roles that remain or emerge.
The Risk Of Automation Without Shared Gains
The report includes a broader warning about relying too heavily on automation alone. The researchers ask: "If an increasing amount of a firm's total output and income is derived from advanced machines and proprietary algorithms, to what extent will human workers be able to share in this prosperity?"
That question goes beyond whether AI creates or destroys a certain number of jobs. It asks who benefits when companies generate more value from machines and algorithms. If human contribution becomes less central to value creation, workers may not automatically share in the gains.
The researchers recommend focusing on ways to enhance human capabilities alongside AI. Without that balance, they warn, human contribution to economic value creation could decline too sharply.
For companies, the practical message is clear. AI strategy is not only about replacing tasks or cutting costs. It also involves building a workforce that can use AI, moving people toward growing areas, and deciding how human skills remain part of economic value.