A Skill Readiness Index developed by IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva ranks Ireland ahead of Finland and Denmark as the countries best positioned to provide skills for the rapidly changing work environment.
These countries were ranked because of their “robust investment” in third level education and “lifelong learning” programmes to help workers adapt.
For the research, the IMF analysed millions of online jobs vacancies. It found that one in 10 jobs postings in advanced economies, and one in 20 in emerging market economies, now require at least one new skill.
Professional, managerial and technical roles demand the most new skills, particularly IT skills, which account for more than half the demand.
Marketing roles increasingly demand expertise in social media, the IMF noted, while digital health skills are increasingly required in healthcare.
Policymaking on the future of work must ensure the gains from AI are broadly shared
Ms Georgieva, a former vice-president of the European Commission, said that almost 40pc of global jobs are now exposed to AI-driven change. That has heightened anxiety among workers about job displacement and declining opportunities.
“This underscores the need for pro-active and comprehensive policymaking that prepares the labour force for the future of work and ensures the gains from AI are broadly shared,” she wrote in a blog on the IMF website.
The IMF’s Skill Imbalance Index uses employment data from a number of countries around the world, including Ireland. It reflects the relative weight of potential future skill demand versus supply, using the United States as a benchmark. Ireland fares best on that index, while Luxembourg is worst.
Ms Georgieva said that countries fall broadly into two categories.
There are countries with high demand for new skills, but relatively low supply, such as Sweden, Brazil and Mexico. They need to invest in training and ensure better education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, she noted.
There are also countries with what Ms Georgieva says is “abundant talent” but more modest demand. These include Ireland, Australia and Poland.
“Their challenge is to stimulate innovation and help companies absorb available talent,” she notes. “Reforms that foster innovation and the creation of new firms and improve business access to finance would help.”
Her report notes that, broadly speaking, countries need to deploy policies to help workers adapt and acquire new skills, and also to enhance their mobility through affordable housing and flexible work arrangements.
Ms Georgieva said that governments also need to redesign education systems for an AI-driven economy.
“The high demand for new IT skills may not necessarily translate into a one-for-one rise in demand for IT and AI specialists, especially as many IT tasks may progressively be automated by AI,” she said.
“Today’s students need cognitive, creative and technical skills that complement AI and help them use it, rather than compete with it.”