How Skills Are Disrupting Work - The Transformational Power of Fast Growing, In-Demand Skills

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys

How Skills Are Disrupting Work examines how fast-growing, high-demand skills are reshaping the U.S. labor market and accelerating workforce disruption. Drawing on a decade of labor market analysis, the report highlights four emerging, durable skill sets—Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Product Management, and Social Media—and explains how they spread across job categories. It provides actionable guidance for employers to reskill talent, for individuals to target durable career skills, and for educational institutions to maintain relevance and enrollment amid rapidly changing requirements.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages40

Reading Time1 h 41 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Methodology

The Role Skills Play in Shaping the Labor Market

Identifying Emerging Skills

The Four Emerging Skill Sets

Building an Emerging Skill Workforce

How Emerging Skills Are Spreading

How Emerging Skills Unlock Better Jobs

Case Studies

Conclusion

How Skills Are Disrupting Work: The Transformational Power of Fast Growing, In-Demand Skills A “State of Skills” Report from the Burning Glass Institute, the Business-Higher Education Forum, and Wiley December 2022 BY: Nik Dawson, Alexandra Martin, Matt Sigelman, Gad Levanon, Stephanie Blochinger, Jennifer Thornton, Janet Chen Table of Contents 5 Executive Summary 7 Methodology 8 The Role Skills Play in Shaping the Labor Market 13 Identifying Emerging Skills 15 The Four Emerging Skill Sets 17 Building an Emerging Skill Workforce 25 How Emerging Skills Are Spreading 27 How Emerging Skills Unlock Better Jobs 35 Case Studies 38 Conclusion 2 The Business-Higher Education Forum’s (BHEF) inaugural State of Skills report results from a decade of labor market analysis that identified emerging digital skills and credential development in response to that demand. This report marks a shift in focus to the most high-demand disruptive skills—those that will have the most disruptive impact on organizations’ operations and workforce. BHEF, in partnership with the Burning Glass Institute and Wiley, is leveraging the current landscape to understand our future reality. What skills will come to dominate the market, and what types of talent will go from niche to most needed? Most importantly, what skills should tomorrow’s workers be acquiring today? This report identifies four of the fastest growing, highest demand skill sets: Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Product Management, and Social Media. Of course, these four aren’t the only fast-growing skills, but they are some of the most disruptive. As the oldest organization of business executives and higher education leaders, BHEF connects higher education institutions to business talent demand. Part of that process is illuminating emerging skills, and then building partnerships between business and higher education in response. We developed this report to drive value not only for our members and their partnerships, but also to define a new challenge for ourselves in the spirit of encouraging others to act. With this data, we commit to work with our members and partners on a call to action that: 1) actively engages in strategic new business-higher education partnerships focused on closing newly researched skills gaps; 2) creates efficient and accessible pathways between higher education and the workforce; and 3) sets bold organizational targets and annually measures that impact. With the strength of its members and partners, BHEF can anticipate skills needs, create equitable pathways between higher education and the workforce, and close talent gaps. We invite you to join us as we enable today’s learners to become tomorrow’s mostvalued workers. It is a critical journey that we undertake for our employers, our students, and our national competitiveness, and this report will help lead the way. Brian K. Fitzgerald CEO Business-Higher Education Forum We are in the midst of an immensely challenging time in the U. S. labor market. With technology ever advancing, job requirements are evolving more rapidly than ever, making it hard for companies to find qualified workers and for individuals to qualify for good jobs. Keeping up with the changes is difficult on both sides, and it’s only getting worse. Educational institutions have an equally challenging task anticipating which classes and skills they should teach to help their students land well-paying jobs when they graduate and continue to succeed throughout their careers. It’s a constantly moving target. How can companies fill their open roles with qualified talent, and how can Gen Z and Millennials compete for those roles—and what should educational institutions prioritize to prepare learners for success—when the skills needed to fill certain positions are so quickly evolving? The beauty of this insightful, invaluable “How Skills are Disrupting Work” report—created in

FAQs

What is the main focus of the State of Skills report?

The report focuses on identifying high-demand disruptive skills and explaining how they reshape organizational operations and the labor market. It emphasizes what tomorrow’s workers should learn today.

Which four emerging skill sets does the report highlight?

It highlights Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Product Management, and Social Media. These are described as fast-growing, high-demand, and durable.

How can employers and educational institutions use the findings?

Employers can use the data to build talent pipelines and reskill/upskill existing employees with emerging skills. Educational institutions can use it to stay relevant in course offerings and better prepare learners for evolving job requirements.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys