Workforce trends leaders need to know

Skills are rapidly reshaping career opportunities and business strategy. This edition explores critical workforce trends, including new research on experienced professionals adopting AI and disruptive technologies, and the impact of women’s health inequities on career advancement. Together, these insights underscore how skills investment, inclusive leadership and access to learning are shaping the future of work.

LinkedIn Skills on the Rise 2026: The fastest-growing skills

LinkedIn has unveiled its annual Skills on the Rise in the U.S., highlighting the fastest-growing skills professionals should be investing in to stay competitive in today’s rapidly evolving world of work. From AI business strategy and prompt engineering to executive communication and stakeholder management, the list underscores a clear shift: employers are increasingly prioritizing capabilities, adaptability and continuous learning over linear career paths or traditional credentials.

As technology and AI reshape how work gets done, “new-collar” roles are emerging that blend technical expertise with essential human skills like communication, collaboration and leadership. At the same time, LinkedIn research shows that one in five professionals globally say lacking the right skills is making the job search more challenging — reinforcing the importance of knowing where to focus development.

This theme of continuous learning extends across industries. Reflecting on his transition to Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton emphasized that whether switching teams in Formula 1 or navigating a career pivot, the willingness to learn, adapt and develop new skills is a defining advantage. In a world changing in real time, career growth increasingly belongs to those who stay curious and invest in both the skills that make them human and the tools that make them faster.

Explore the full list and join the conversation: Which skills will matter most in the year ahead and how can professionals build them now?

International Women’s Day sparks conversation on mentorship, leadership and equity

Each year, millions of members come together to recognize the women driving progress at work and to share the stories, lessons, and leadership that shape their careers.

This IWD, we’d love to see you join the conversation. Post a story or video celebrating a woman who’s made an impact on your career, or share your own experience, using #IWD26. To make sharing easier than ever, LinkedIn has partnered with Canva to offer simple, ready-to-use templates designed specifically for LinkedIn, so you can focus on what matters most: your story.

The health gap holding women back at work

Women spend nearly a decade more of their lives in poor health than men, according to new findings from the World Economic Forum and the McKinsey Health Institute — a gap that carries major implications for careers, productivity and economic growth. In recognition of International Women’s Day, Melinda French Gates, founder of Pivotal, and Regina E. Dugan, president and CEO of Wellcome Leap, will join LinkedIn’s Jessi Hempel for a live conversation on the workplace consequences of women’s health inequities and the leadership actions needed to address them. The discussion will explore how health disparities affect advancement, the economic case for investing in women’s health and how leaders can help drive systemic change.

This conversation is exclusive to Premium subscribers. Subscribers, click ‘Attend’ to save your spot! Can’t join live? Register by clicking ‘Attend’ to access the replay after the event goes live. Not yet a subscriber? Discover how LinkedIn Premium can help you achieve your goals faster and sign up here: https://lnkd.in/djNtgBdr

⏯️ Visit linkedin.com/events for more can’t-miss conversations featuring prominent leaders like entrepreneur Mark Cuban, leadership expert Carla Harris, former FBI lead negotiator Christopher Voss, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

 Workers 50+ are upskilling fast and reshaping the future workforce

New research from LinkedIn and AARP highlights the growing impact of professionals 50+, including rising adoption of AI and disruptive tech skills as well as significantly higher retention rates compared with younger workers. The findings challenge persistent myths about older workers and underscore the business value of investing in multigenerational teams. In the interview below, Heather Tinsley-Fix senior advisor for financial resilience and employer alliance lead at AARP, discusses the key insights and what they mean for employers. Discover the full report here.

You partnered with LinkedIn on this research for a reason, what surprised you most about what the data revealed about workers 50+? It wasn’t surprising. We know that older adults want to keep learning new skills and continue to be challenged. We have seen the data on older workers and their loyalty to employers via higher retention rates, and this report validated everything we have been saying about workers 50+ for many years. We were pleased to see that the tech skills gap between older and younger workers has narrowed considerably, which corresponds to our own research on older adults and tech use, but is especially salient because the most persistent myth about older workers is that they are not tech savvy.

The report shows a 25% increase in disruptive tech skills among professionals 50+ over the past five years. What’s driving that acceleration, and what should employers take away from it? Many older workers are excited to learn new skills. Sixty percent of older adults say they are willing to learn new skills on the job, and 79% seek out opportunities to do so. Many older workers are embracing technology, including AI. The key takeaway for employers is to push back against the myth that older workers are not tech savvy, and to provide both encouragement and support for mid and late career workers to upskill on AI and other disruptive skills. A big part of that is providing transparency for how the company wants to use AI and why, and to invite workers to be partners in that shift.

Retention is one of the most striking findings; 85% of workers 50+ stayed with their employer after a year, compared to 71% of younger hires. Why do you think retention is so much stronger among experienced workers? More seasoned employees are often highly engaged and professional, and they serve as mentors for younger workers, fostering knowledge sharing and innovation. Satisfaction is high among older workers who have opportunities to learn new skills or say they are continuing to grow in their job. Over 4 in 5 enjoy their job, and over 3 in 4 are satisfied with their job. Reskilling and upskilling are key for retention. In addition, there is a strong life-stage element at play here – younger workers are likely still finding their way in the world of work and looking to advance quickly in order to build experience, whereas older workers are more likely to leverage their deep expertise to find and do work they enjoy or that is meaningful to them. That’s not to say that younger workers don’t care about liking their job or that older workers don’t want to advance, but the trade-offs can be different depending on where you are in your life and career.

Sixty percent of workers 50+ say they’re willing to upskill if asked by their employer. What’s the opportunity for leaders who proactively invite experienced workers into tech training and transformation efforts? Reskilling and upskilling are key for retention. Job-related skills training enhances productivity and contributes to growth in the workplace. 54% of older workers are taking or have taken job-related skills training in the past two years, and 43% keep their skills up to date for better job performance. Additionally, experienced workers can draw on cross-departmental knowledge, wider industry knowledge, and their own contextual frameworks (which take time to develop) in ways that can inform operational or strategic decision-making on tech transformation. In other words, the opportunity for leaders is to get a “two for one” effect from investing in tech upskilling for older workers, since they already bring all that insight and experience to the business side of the equation.

When generations collaborate, companies see higher engagement, lower turnover, and greater innovation. What does effective multigenerational collaboration actually look like in practice? Effective multigenerational collaboration (like any kind of collaboration) is built on a foundation of inclusiveness and trust – without that foundation cross-generational tensions can emerge or shared experience can be discounted. But if the foundation is there (either at the team level or company-wide) companies benefit from the combination of experience and experimentation. Previous ways of doing things can be productively challenged, and a new hybrid approach to problems or projects can emerge. Experienced workers can keep projects from running into known or anticipated roadblocks, smooth the way for new ideas with their negotiation and relationship skills, while younger workers push the envelope, asking why and also bringing their own generational insights to products or services. 

If there’s one mindset shift you’d want CEOs and CHROs to make after reading this report from LinkedIn and AARP, what would it be? A multigenerational workforce isn’t a challenge—it’s a competitive advantage. As skills evolve and demographics shift, organizations that intentionally recruit, retain and support multigenerational teams are better positioned to adapt and grow. It’s about creating a balance where employees of all ages thrive, and striking that balance takes intention and investment (time, resources, or both).

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