World Youth Skills Day: Why AI Is Changing What Employers Value Most

Every year on 15 July, World Youth Skills Day highlights the importance of equipping young people with the skills required for employment, entrepreneurship and lifelong learning. This year’s theme, “Skills for a Shared Future”, reflects the growing need for young people to combine technical capability with resilience, judgement, collaboration and the ability to work effectively alongside artificial intelligence.

As AI becomes embedded in everyday work, organisations are reassessing what workforce readiness looks like. Digital and AI literacy are rising rapidly up the hiring agenda, but they are not replacing human capabilities. Employers increasingly value the combination of technical fluency and the qualities that technology cannot easily replicate, including critical thinking, communication, creativity and emotional intelligence.

The challenge is no longer preparing young people for fixed roles. It is preparing them for work that will continue to evolve alongside technology.

AI skills are now a hiring priority

The shift is already visible in recruitment.

Employment Hero’s 2026 report, The AI Paradox at Work, found that 64% of UK employers say AI has changed what they look for in candidates, with AI skills now ranking among the top five hiring attributes, ahead of previous work experience.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 similarly identifies AI and big data, technological literacy and analytical thinking as some of the fastest-growing skills required over the next five years. It also highlights resilience, curiosity, leadership and social influence as capabilities expected to become more valuable as work becomes more technology-enabled.

Employers are not choosing between technical and human skills. They are increasingly looking for both.

The next generation is learning AI, but not always at work

Many young people have already recognised the growing importance of AI capability.

Employment Hero found that 81% of Gen Z workers have taught themselves AI skills through social media and online learning platforms, while 58% feel positive about AI becoming a larger part of working life.

However, confidence in using those skills professionally remains uneven.

Half of Gen Z workers said they feel guilty using AI at work, while 42% admitted using AI without their employer’s knowledge. The findings point to a gap between the skills employers increasingly expect and the workplace policies that support their responsible use.

Many early-career employees do not lack willingness or capability. They lack clear guidance, practical guardrails and confidence that responsible AI use is accepted.

Human capabilities are becoming more valuable

As AI automates routine tasks, the relative value of distinctly human capabilities is increasing.

According to LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report, organisations are placing greater emphasis on adaptability, communication and continuous learning as roles evolve more quickly. Skills, rather than traditional job titles or fixed career pathways, are becoming a more important foundation for workforce planning.

The Deloitte 2025 Global Human Capital Trends report also emphasises human sustainability, arguing that organisations need to develop the capabilities that allow employees to adapt, collaborate and contribute over the long term.

This aligns closely with the focus of World Youth Skills Day. The future workforce will require AI literacy alongside emotional intelligence, ethical judgement, resilience, collaboration and the ability to continue learning as technologies change.

Early-career programmes must evolve

These changes have direct implications for graduate, apprenticeship and early-career development programmes.

Traditional programmes have often concentrated on technical competence and professional knowledge. Increasingly, they must also help employees use AI responsibly, understand where human judgement is essential and develop the interpersonal skills required to work effectively with colleagues and intelligent systems.

Organisations also need to create environments where employees can experiment with AI openly and safely.

Clear governance, practical training and role-specific guidance are likely to prove more effective than broad encouragement alone. Early-career employees need to understand not only which tools are available, but how and when they should be used.

Skills for a shared future

The United Nations describes this year’s World Youth Skills Day as a call to equip young people with technical, digital, AI, green, social-emotional and civic skills that support a more sustainable and inclusive future.

For employers, that ambition extends into recruitment, development and workforce planning.

Preparing the next generation requires more than building technical fluency. It requires helping employees combine technological capability with judgement, creativity, empathy and the confidence to apply those skills responsibly.

As AI reshapes work, long-term organisational performance will depend not only on the quality of the technology deployed, but on the ability of people to use it effectively, ethically and collaboratively.

World Youth Skills Day provides an opportunity to review whether current hiring and development models are preparing young people for that reality.

HRD Connect Curators of the New Business Landscape. HRD Connect produces industry-recognized content for senior HR leaders. Through articles, case studies, Q&As, podcasts, events, and more, we offer truly progressive and cutting-edge insights designed to help people leaders address core HR challenges and add greater value to their business.

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