Young people are not preparing to inherit the future — they are already helping build it. Yet at the same time, they are also preparing for futures that are increasingly difficult to predict. Artificial intelligence is transforming industries, economies are evolving rapidly, and new occupations continue to emerge.
The urgency is clear. According to the , over the next decade, approximately 1.2 billion young people are expected to enter the labour market, while only around 420 million jobs are projected globally. The task ahead is about ensuring young people can access new opportunities by developing the skills required to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
As technological, economic and social change accelerates, ensuring young people have the skills and opportunities to participate in the labor market and to shape the future has never been more important. That is why the 蘑菇视频 Youth Office's International Youth Day activation focuses on future-ready skills: the technical, digital and human-centred capabilities that enable young people to lead, innovate and contribute meaningfully to their communities.
AI & beyond: the human skills that matter most
As artificial intelligence reshapes the future of work, digital literacy alone is no longer enough. Increasingly, it is human-centred capabilities — such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, empathy and ethical judgment, among others — that will enable young people to adapt, innovate and lead responsibly.
According to the , technological change is expected to create 170 million jobs and displace 92 million by 2030, while nearly 40 per cent of the skills required in the workplace are expected to change. At the same time, the estimates that AI could affect almost 40 per cent of jobs worldwide, creating opportunities for greater productivity and growth while also risking deeper inequalities if access to skills and technology remains uneven. has also found that AI is more likely to augment jobs than replace them entirely, automating some tasks while allowing workers to focus on others.
For Nila Ibrahimi, a Young Leader for the SDGs, some of the most important skills she developed were not found in a textbook or a website. "It was never the technical knowledge that opened doors. It was the ability to listen closely, to find the right words, to build trust with someone who owed me none of it. Empathy. Communication. Leadership."
As Nila notes, many of the jobs today's youth will hold have not yet been invented. In a future that cannot be fully predicted, the ability to learn, communicate effectively and reason may prove just as important as technical proficiency.
But AI also raises important questions around misinformation, safety, accountability and ethics. For Nila, this means AI literacy cannot be understood solely as a technical skill. "Teach a young person to use the tool without also building their judgement, their empathy, their capacity to ask should we, not only can we, and we will have failed the entire point of the education."
Preparing young people for the future therefore requires a balanced approach — one that combines digital and technological skills with the values, ethics and critical reasoning needed to apply them responsibly.
Future-ready means future-ready for everyone
Future-ready skills are only meaningful if young people have equitable opportunities to develop and apply them.
The conversation about future-ready skills cannot be separated from the question of access. Despite rapid technological progress, digital opportunities remain unevenly distributed. According to the , an estimated 2.2 billion people remained offline globally in 2025, with gaps in affordability, connectivity and digital skills continuing to limit participation in the digital economy. Access to advanced technologies is also highly unequal: while 84 per cent of people in high-income countries have access to 5G networks, the figure is just 4 per cent in low-income countries.
These disparities matter because access increasingly shapes opportunity. As artificial intelligence transforms learning, work and civic participation, young people without reliable connectivity, digital infrastructure or relevant support systems risk being left further behind. Bridging these divides requires more than expanding access to technology; it requires investing in the systems that enable young people to benefit from it.
Young Leader for the SDGs Enzo Romero's work highlights how technology can unlock human potential when barriers are addressed. A mechatronics engineer and founder of LAT Bionics, Enzo notes that according to the WHO, most people with upper-limb amputations live in developing countries, where access to assistive devices is often constrained by cost, insufficient funding and availability of specialized services. "Assistive technology is an investment in human potential, independence and economic participation."
Enzo notes that he uses AI in his work, harnessing the technology to help compile data needed in improving and innovating his work in engineering upper limb prostheses. In speaking about the impacts of AI and emerging technologies in his work, Enzo reflected on fitting one of his clients with a prosthesis, “[I] realized the intersection between emotion and science is beautiful. That made me realize technology serves one purpose only: dignity.”
Enzo's work demonstrates that technology expands opportunity only when young people have equitable access—not only to the tools themselves, but also to the skills needed to use them confidently and independently.
From skills to opportunity
Different contexts may shape young people's experiences, but they do not diminish their ambitions. Around the world, young people are already leading — as innovators, advocates, entrepreneurs, creators and changemakers. Investing in future-ready skills means investing in their ability not only to navigate the future, but to actively shape it.
At the same time, meaningful youth participation must remain at the centre of these efforts. Young people are essential partners in designing and improving education and training systems. When youth voices help shape policies, programmes and institutions, opportunities become more equitable and more effective.
The challenge is therefore larger than preparing young people for a changing labour market. As participants in the Deputy Secretary-General's AI and Human Development dialogue emphasized, societies must consider not only what AI can do, but how it can advance human well-being, strengthen trust and support inclusive development.
Initiatives such as , with partners such as S&P Global and the S&P Foundation, reflect this commitment by helping bridge the gap between learning and opportunity, ensuring young people are equipped not only with skills, but with meaningful avenues to use them.
The perspectives shared by Young Leaders for the SDGs Enzo Romero and Nila Ibrahimi draw on their participation in the AI and Human Development global dialogue series convened by United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed. The brought together policymakers, technologists, educators, artists, economists, civil society leaders and young changemakers to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping human development and how diverse perspectives can help guide its future. Enzo's remarks also pull from his 2026 .
The views expressed in the reflections are those of the Young Leaders and do not necessarily represent the views of the United Nations or the 蘑菇视频 Youth Office.