New research from Udemy and Indeed reveals a clear “future-proofing instinct” among workers, who are aggressively upskilling in anticipation of AI-driven changes, while many employers continue to prioritize immediate hiring needs over long-term skill development. The joint report, “The Future-Proofing Instinct,” highlights a growing disconnect: employees focus heavily on technical skills like AI, often at the expense of complementary soft skills that employers view as critical gaps in today’s workforce.
The analysis, covering manufacturing, technology, and professional services industries, compares Indeed’s job posting data (reflecting current employer demand) with Udemy Business learning patterns (showing proactive worker preparation). While AI drives the majority of upskilling momentum—particularly among tech professionals—employers’ hiring signals emphasize immediate, practical needs, creating misalignment in workforce development priorities.
Employees demonstrate strong proactive behavior, channeling significant learning efforts into AI and emerging technical capabilities to prepare for future roles. Tech workers lead this trend, with nearly all upskilling centered on AI. In contrast, manufacturing employees show remarkable initiative, devoting 60% of learning to AI despite stagnant employer demand in that area. This forward-looking approach contrasts sharply with job postings, where AI appears infrequently overall and traditional skills dominate in many sectors.
Employers across markets and industries consistently rank soft skills—communication, critical thinking, leadership, and collaboration—among the fastest-growing requirements in job postings. Yet these skills see limited emphasis in employee-driven learning on Udemy. As AI tools automate routine tasks and reshape workflows, human-centric abilities become even more vital for effective teamwork, innovation, and adaptation. The report underscores the need for balanced development that pairs technical mastery with these enduring competencies.
Professional services firms actively seek AI talent across all studied countries. Technology leads overall demand, with the US (30%) and UK (20%) showing particularly strong hiring signals for AI-related skills. Manufacturing reveals the widest gap: workers advance rapidly in AI learning while hiring remains anchored in legacy priorities such as quality control. Regional shifts highlight accelerating demand in Australia and the US, where AI mentions in postings grew substantially over the two-year window.
“Professionals are developing a remarkable instinct, accelerating their skills journeys faster than ever before to prepare for what’s ahead,” said Hugo Sarrazin, President and CEO at Udemy. “The future belongs to workers who can build AI fluency while maintaining adaptive or soft skills that help teams collaborate effectively and navigate the workforce transformation. At the same time, the smartest organizations will meet employees where they are, hiring the right skills to achieve business goals and secure top talent for sustainable growth.”
“Indeed Hiring Lab’s job market data, along with Udemy’s workforce skills data, gives us a unique view of how work is evolving,” said Laura Ullrich, Director of Economic Research at Indeed. “AI emerging as a top-growing skill across industries isn’t surprising, but the employees who pair technical expertise with strong soft skills will be best positioned to thrive.”
The findings emphasize the value of aligning organizational hiring strategies with employee upskilling trends to build resilient, future-ready teams. Workers and employers alike benefit from investing in both technical and soft skills to navigate the ongoing workforce transformation driven by AI.
To access the full report and explore upskilling solutions, visit business.udemy.com.
About Udemy
Udemy is an AI-powered skills acceleration platform transforming how companies and individuals across the world build the capabilities needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving workplace. By combining on-demand, multi-language content with real-time innovation, Udemy delivers personalized experiences that empower organizations to scale workforce development and help individuals build the technical, business, and soft skills most relevant to their careers. Today, thousands of companies, including Ericsson, Samsung SDS America, On24, Tata Consultancy Services, The World Bank, and Volkswagen, rely on Udemy Business for its enterprise solutions to build agile, future-ready teams. Udemy is headquartered in San Francisco, with hubs across the United States, Australia, India, Ireland, Mexico, and Türkiye.
About Indeed
More people find jobs on Indeed than anywhere else. Indeed is the #1 job site in the world (Comscore, Total Visits, March 2025). With 635 million Job Seeker Profiles, people in more than 60 countries across 28 languages come to Indeed to search for jobs, post resumes, and research companies. Over 3.3 million employers use Indeed to find and hire new employees. Indeed is a subsidiary of Recruit Holdings, a global leader in HR technology and business solutions that is simplifying hiring and transforming the world of work.
TechIntelPro empowers B2B technology decision-makers with the latest industry trends, deep insights, leadership perspectives and actionable intelligence to drive both organizational and professional milestones—and thrive on the tech pulse.