What the World Economic Forum’s Jobs Report Means for Finance Leaders
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 makes one thing unambiguous:
the labour market isn’t evolving — it’s reshuffling at scale.
By 2030, employers expect 170 million jobs to be created and 92 million displaced, meaning 22% of today’s roles will either disappear or be reinvented. WEF Report
That level of churn has profound implications for leadership teams — and few functions sit closer to the centre of this change than finance.
This article looks past the headlines and focuses on what the report really means for finance leaders and the businesses that rely on them.
Finance Isn’t Shrinking — It’s Splitting
One of the most misunderstood takeaways from the report is the idea that finance roles are “at risk”.
The reality is more nuanced.
Transactional and clerical finance roles — accounting, bookkeeping, payroll and data entry — are among the fastest-declining job categories globally, driven by automation and AI. WEF Report
At the same time, strategic finance roles are growing:
Financial analysts
Risk and compliance specialists
Commercial finance leaders
Investment and advisory professionals
Finance isn’t disappearing.
It’s moving up the value chain.
For businesses, this means the finance function is becoming less about reporting history and more about shaping decisions.
AI Will Do the Numbers. CFOs Will Do the Thinking.
Artificial intelligence features heavily throughout the report, and understandably so.
But here’s the critical distinction the World Economic Forum makes:
AI is automating tasks, not accountability.
The most in-demand core skill across all roles in 2025 is analytical thinking, followed closely by leadership, resilience and influence. WEF Report
In practical terms:
AI produces faster data
Finance leaders interpret risk
CFOs apply judgement under uncertainty
This is why senior finance roles are becoming more valuable, not less — provided the individual can move beyond technical excellence into strategic leadership.
Resilience Is Now a Core Finance Skill
Perhaps the most telling insight in the report is not technological at all.
Skills such as resilience, flexibility and agility now rank ahead of many traditional technical capabilities. WEF Report
Why?
Because finance leaders are operating against a backdrop of:
Persistent economic uncertainty
Geopolitical instability
Inflationary pressure
Climate and regulatory transition
Businesses aren’t just hiring finance leaders to manage numbers anymore.
They’re hiring them to lead through ambiguity.
This helps explain why CFOs are increasingly being appointed earlier in a company’s lifecycle — and why interim finance leaders are being brought in during periods of rapid change.
The Real Constraint: Skills, Not Strategy
One line in the report stands out above all others:
“Skill gaps are the single biggest barrier to business transformation.” WEF Report
Not capital.
Not ambition.
Skills.
By 2030, 59% of the global workforce will need reskilling, and not everyone will make that transition successfully. WEF Report
For leadership teams, this places finance firmly at the centre of transformation:
Challenging assumptions
Stress-testing decisions
Allocating capital intelligently
Enabling growth or protecting value in downturns
The right finance leader is no longer a cost centre.
They are an enabler of change.
What This Means for Hiring Finance Leaders
The implication for businesses is clear:
Hiring finance leaders based purely on technical track record is no longer enough.
The most effective CFOs and FDs today combine:
Strong commercial judgement
Comfort with technology and data
The ability to influence founders, boards and investors
Calm decision-making under pressure
These are leadership hires — not functional ones.
Final thought
The World Economic Forum report doesn’t predict a future without finance leaders.
It predicts a future where only the right kind of finance leaders thrive.
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