The fourth key shift is work transitioning from traditional job structures and job-based CVs/resumes to a skills-first orientation. You need to know/share what matters—what drives hiring, agility, performance, and results—skills.

"Skills will be the currency of work in the future." — ​Ravin Jesuthasan​, Senior Partner and Global Leader for Transformation Services, Mercer.

Leaders: Identify and inventory all that your teams are capable of to know what is achievable. Uncover and utilize unknown and untapped skills to recognize how each person and AI are best deployed as a blended workforce. Make skills language a habit and invest in ongoing upskilling to stay competitive. Hire for anticipated gaps and search more broadly with a skills-first focus.

Workers: Elevate and communicate your skills to open relevant doors. Use a Functional CV/resume (see below) and LinkedIn profile to specify your range of capabilities, highlighting skills you want to focus on. Help employers decipher your skills to match them with work opportunities. Actively manage your skills acquisition and schedule—employer-backed combined with self-learning.

• 63% of employers say it’s harder to find great talent than in 2024.
• 70% of job seekers say it’s harder to find a job than in 2024.
• 85% of employers use skills-based hiring in 2025.
• 89% of UK employers have problems with CVs — 34% of UK employers can't tell (from the CV) if the candidate has the right skills.
• 86% US employers have problems with resumes. [TestGorilla, ​State of Skills-based Hiring 2025​].
• 57% of US employees pursue self-learning [​Leoron Institute​, 2024]

Skills-focus helps solve skills issues:

• 63% of employers say skill gaps—not economic conditions—are the biggest barrier to business transformation through 2030 (​WEF, 2025​).
• 6.1x expansion of talent pools possible with a skills-based approach.
• 8.2x global talent pipeline increase for AI roles. [​LinkedIn Skills-based Hiring 2025​]

‍Entry-level jobs increasingly demand multiple years of work experience. Why? The easy work has been automated away. New/recent graduates have more complex work starting Day One. I raised this rising issue back in 2019:

"The employee comes in and they’re doing a job that in the past it might’ve taken three or four years for them to get to.” 2019 ​WSJ 'Entry-Level Jobs Aren't So Entry Level Any More​' quoting ​Kurt Rathmann​, tech entrepreneur, then ScaleFactor CEO & Founder.

• 51.3% of entry-level UK jobs require previous work experience.
• 2.7 years average experience stated [​StandOut CV, 2025​].

Entry-level work is NOT going getting easier or simpler. Employers (and educators) must help bring new hires up to speed (with useful AI tools). Ensure early-career professionals have critical initial support as they get started. Focus on younger candidates' potential to tap into fresh AI-engaged talent, develop capable tech-based workers, and identify rising managers and future leaders.

Employers: Close The Gap

1. Shift to Skills Benchmarks – Use a bridging approach with less time-based definitions such as asking for “intermediate Excel” instead of requiring “2 years of Excel experience.”
2. Structured Onboarding & Development – Actively mentor, train, and rotate early hires to enhance, expand, and build skills, not just fill gaps. These systems support development, performance, and retention too.
3. Project-Based Assessments – Give candidates the opportunity to demonstrate capability and resourcefulness through trial tasks rather than CV/resume history—capacity to learn is a core skill to identify.

‍​Structured Programs for New Grads​ - including mentorship, rotations, and networking at companies such as Netflix, Capital One, Chevron, and Notion.

​New Hire Training​ - covering new-hire bootcamps, onboarding buddies, 30-60-90 day plans, and mentorship to build capabilities with confidence fast at organizations including Samsara, Alteryx, Datadog, WeWork, Figma, and Zynga.

​Integrating New Hire Initiatives​ - "Project Shadow Weeks” reduce new hire ramp-up time by ~40% as well as buddy systems, and skills swap sessions.

​Expanding Early-Career Pipelines​ - recruiting from broader educational backgrounds and offering bootcamps, apprenticeships, and certifications.

​Understanding Early-Career Professionals​ - recognizing strengths such as adaptability and willingness to learn, expectations and interview capabilities.

"Skills will replace degrees as the top employment criteria" — LinkedIn CEO, ​Ryan Roslansky​.

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Workers: Focus on Functional CVs

For those early in their career, a Chronological CV or resume can work against you—it highlights what you haven’t done rather than what you can do. A Functional CV helps you define yourself by your skills, not your job history.

1. Headline Your Skills – Group capabilities into categories (e.g., Digital Skills, Communication, Problem Solving).
2. Show Evidence – Under each skill, add bullet points with achievements, projects, coursework, or volunteer work that prove competence.
3. Keep Work History Minimal – List roles and dates briefly at the end, without overemphasis.
4. Tailor to Each Role – Match your highlighted skills to the requirements of the job posting.

​More resources​ to build your Functional CV on Indeed.

Ever seen ​My Cousin Vinny​? Mona Lisa Vito (played by Marisa Tomei) describes herself in court as an 'out-of-work hairdresser'. However, her car mechanic skills are impressive and define her very differently as an expert in the case. See below for a link to the fantastic clip from the court room drama!

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📘 ​The Skills: How to Win at Work​, Mishal Husain - understand skills.

🗞️ ​Skills-based outlook, WEF 2025​ - compete and grow skills-first.

📹 ​My Cousin Vinny,​ Marissa Tomei - hairdresser 'job' with mechanic skills.

🎶 ​Don't Stop Me Now​, Queen - skills-first potential unleashed!

For leaders and workers alike, this shift is liberating. We are more than our CV/resume—we bring skills, insights, and experiences which can be elevated through the skills-first lens. That’s how we build more agile businesses and more human workplaces.

With insights tailored for your business and workforce skills, I can assist your shift to skills-first and enable your business to hire, onboard, learn, and scale fast. ​Click here to book a 30-minute session.​

Until next time!

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Sophie