By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-06 19:31:23 | Updated at 2026-09-06 20:21:26
1 hour ago
Just as “The Obsolete Man,” which aired in 1961, depicted a future society in which technology had rendered certain professions obsolete, a recent survey showed that, as AI reshapes the workplace, most U.S. workers fear becoming obsolete in the future workforce and believe developing new skills is essential to job security.
While many workers attributed their fear of obsolescence to a lack of skill with the latest technologies, some hiring and workforce professionals said building interpersonal skills is increasingly critical, especially at a time when many young people are living in a digital world.
ETS, a global nonprofit educational testing and measurement organization, reported that 54 percent of U.S. workers felt underprepared for the next generation of jobs in the coming decade, compared with 49 percent globally. Meanwhile, 75 percent said they have no clear indication of what those jobs will entail in 2035.
This uncertainty, in turn, is accompanied by fears of obsolescence, with 58 percent of those surveyed saying they fear becoming obsolete in the future workforce. The figure rises to 74 percent among technology workers and 73 percent among those in financial services.
“The reasons workers give are consistent across markets: they lack experience with emerging technologies such as AI, automation or data tools. Many also report limited hands-on exposure to innovative systems that are becoming central to modern work,” ETS stated.
Some workers also feared that their newly acquired skills could become obsolete almost as quickly as they learn them, the report said.
Nevertheless, 78 percent of U.S. workers said there will be no job security without constant adaptation, while 85 percent said developing new skills will be necessary.
According to a March report from the International Monetary Fund, demand for new and digital skills is increasing, with one in 10 job postings in advanced economies and one in 20 in emerging markets requiring at least one new skill.
Ireland, Finland, and Denmark ranked as the top three countries in the organization’s Skill Readiness Index, combining high shares of tech graduates with strong adult literacy and retraining systems. The United States ranked ninth among the 23 countries analyzed.
Barriers
However, many barriers, including time, cost, access, and employer support, are limiting workers’ ability to pursue adaptation, ETS stated.
The report indicated that 71 percent of those surveyed were proactively developing new skills, falling short of the global average of 77 percent.
“U.S. workers are taking stock and waiting for clearer guidance, especially from governments, employers and educators,” the report said.
Research from Blu Ivy Group, a Canadian employer brand and recruitment marketing company with offices in Michigan, indicates U.S. businesses spent $102.8 billion on employee training in 2025, but many failed to provide additional time for training, according to Stacy Parker, the company’s cofounder and managing director.
“The biggest problem we see is that in many cases, employees are expected to participate in this training on evenings and weekends,” she told The Epoch Times. “They are so busy with different projects at work and are not given any time during the day to complete the training.”
Parker noted that in other countries, employee training is integrated into the workday.
“While North American companies tend to treat training as an HR [human resources] initiative, other nations see it as part of their competitiveness strategy,” she said. “Managers need to have accountability for developing people alongside technology.”
Meanwhile, Devin Hornick, cofounder and partner at KORE1, an Irvine, California-based nationwide staffing and workforce management company, said another reason U.S. workers lag behind their global counterparts is that they fail to discuss job expectations with their managers.
“In the U.S., the relationship between the growth of an employee’s skills in the workplace, combined with a career and income increase, is not clear, and employees will prioritize simply surviving the work week,” he told The Epoch Times.
Hornick added that unless an employer makes the relationship clear with a specific developmental career path, employees will not make the time to invest in developing a new skill. The issue can become more complicated, he said, when a company does not provide paid time off for employees to participate in training. Other companies do not cover the cost of training, and some do not offer training, Hornick said.
“Most professionals I place don’t have the bandwidth to take on additional responsibilities and build new skills,” he said.
“If there’s no budget set aside for employee development, that means there’s little to no value placed on training by employers and that results in the disconnect.”
Real-Life Skills Over Technology
Stacey Cohen, president and CEO of Co-Communications, a New York-based marketing and public relations agency, believes that job readiness should start as early as high school.
The author of two “Brand Up” books that guide high school and college students in personal branding techniques, Cohen stresses the need to develop interpersonal skills—even more than AI skills—to create career opportunities.
“It’s not just about knowing the latest technology,” she told The Epoch Times.
“What employers are looking for today are durable skills like communication, critical thinking, collaboration, relationship building, and problem-solving. Employees need to be adaptable, and this is becoming more critical than ever.”
Reviewing her own children’s high school curriculum, Cohen noticed a void in interpersonal skill development.
“They were teaching things like yoga and photography, but why not interviewing and leadership skills?” she said.
“Textbooks can prepare you for a test, but to succeed in the workplace you need a different set of skills.”
One factor affecting today’s teens’ ability to develop interpersonal skills is that they live in a digital world, she said.
“They text all the time and don’t necessarily have to speak to another human,” she said. “Even at the grocery store, you can choose the self-check-out lines instead of human cashiers.”
Cohen believes it’s never too early to teach young people these durable skills, such as using their own judgment, anticipating what people need, and learning the value of customer service.
“Even early part-time jobs like waiting tables require these types of skills,” she said.
Cohen noted that the hotel industry devotes considerable time to onboarding new employees. This intense orientation and training program reviews every aspect of guest relations, from initial greetings to problem-solving.
Cohen said businesses should adopt a similar onboarding method to not only create a smooth job transition but prepare employees for how the job may change over the next decade.
Erin DeVito, general manager of North America for Impact, a global learning and development firm, works with both executive leadership and employees to support and improve workplace dynamics.
“Even leadership is scrambling and trying to keep up with changing business strategies today,” she told The Epoch Times.
“The key is to help people develop skills of adaptability so they can shift, change, and learn new things. What worked years before may not be working now.”
DeVito and her team work with businesses of all types, industries, and sizes, offering customized leadership and team development, as well as coaching and other services. She said sometimes the solution can be as simple as encouraging coworkers to talk with each other instead of emailing.
“When we rely on email and text, we lose human connectedness,” she said. “While we’re all embracing emerging technologies like AI, sitting underneath those are real-life skills.”
DeVito used the example of her daughter, who was spending too much time texting on her phone and began to exhibit changes in her behavior.
“I took the phone away and put in a landline,” she said. “After just a day, she was talking with people and started acting like herself again.”
She eventually gave the phone back to her daughter, but with time-use restrictions.
Bridging the Gap
Hornick believes American workers can bridge the gap between the skills they bring to the table now and what will be expected in the next decade by setting the stage early enough with their immediate supervisors.
“I tell most of my candidates this: meet with your manager to find out what capabilities the company will need in the next 12 to 18 months and request a stipend, certification program, or protected time to develop those skills,” he said.
“If the employer will not invest, look at low-cost, credentialed resources that are recognized in your field. Waiting for the perfect comprehensive program is how people fall further behind.”
Parker said there’s still a “real paradox” with leadership in their ability to provide clarity when so much transformation is happening.
“Organizations are in continuous change and redirection, and often, employees have less confidence about where the company is headed and what will happen to their jobs,” she said. “Sometimes they think their jobs will be eliminated, but the company may actually have retraining in mind.”
In her experience, Parker has seen technology, corporate retail, and business-to-business firms undergo the most change and reshuffling.
“Employees often are burdened with heavy workloads, businesses are sometimes understaffed, and promotion pathways can be unclear,” she said.
As business leaders strive to find the best solutions, DeVito encourages both leadership and employees to learn as much as they can from everyone around them.
“It’s also important that leaders be honest when they don’t have all the answers,” she said.
