How Workers Can Prepare for the Future of Work

All year, I have been sounding the horn that the future of work isn’t just about technology, but rather it is about people and skills. The technologies transforming work—which we discussed last week—are powerful. But technology alone won’t determine the future. People will.

The question is: How can workers prepare to thrive in this new era? Let’s explore five key areas workers must consider in 2026.

Embrace Lifelong Learning

The days of static skill sets are over. The future worker needs digital fluency—not just the ability to operate tools, but to understand data, interpret insights, and collaborate with intelligent systems. This means:

• Gaining comfort with analytics and dashboards.
• Learning to manage, interact with, and trust autonomous systems.
• Continual upskilling as technologies evolve.
• Train yourself on AI (artificial intelligence) and more.

Employers must help by providing ongoing, practical training—especially in areas like data literacy ...