The nine-to-five job as we know it is coming to an end. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman predicts the extinction of such a traditional work model by 2034, and he’s not alone in this prediction. The gig economy in a post-pandemic world, fueled by AI and automation, is rewriting the rules for almost all industries. The future of jobs won’t be about staying inside offices and meeting deadlines during working hours—it’ll be about productivity and staying adaptable.
Since the pandemic, the rise of informality worldwide has accelerated the transformation toward a more flexible and unstable job market. In the U.S., one of the strongest economies in the world, an estimated 64 million professionals—representing approximately 38% of the country’s workforce—are currently freelancers, according to the Upwork Research Institute.
AI is a major disruptor in this context. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that while AI will replace 85 million jobs by 2025, it will also create 89 million new ones. The same report, the Future of Jobs Survey, found that between 2025 and 2030, all these structural changes are expected to affect 22% of existing jobs. This transformation could create 170 million new jobs (14% of today’s employment) while displacing 92 million roles (8% of current jobs), leading to a net growth of 78 million positions worldwide.
The catch is that these new positions require skills that most workers don’t yet have training for. Companies are already favoring adaptable workers who can learn quickly and multitask over those specialized in rigid roles. The WEF estimates that, on average, workers can expect that “39% of their existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the 2025-2030 period.”
On the employers’ side, about 63% of employers identify this skills gap as the biggest obstacle to business transformation, and 85% intend to prioritize the reskilling of their workforce. However, even with these initiatives, it is estimated that 11% of workers will not have access to the necessary reskilling, jeopardizing their job prospects.
Keeping up
Within this context, staying employable means evolving—fast. While traditional education systems struggle to adapt and keep up with the fast-paced job market, alternative platforms are filling the gap for professionals seeking their first opportunity or experienced workers willing to evolve. Many are turning to programs like Grow with Google, General Assembly, and Coursera to learn about generative AI, programming, data analytics, and even UX design.
Geopolitical tensions and economic fragmentation are also reshaping businesses, with one-third of companies predicting structural changes in this regard. Trade restrictions and industrial policies will lead many companies to reassess their supply chains, promoting both offshoring and reshoring depending on incentives. This dynamic will drive the need for digital security professionals, as well as demand greater resilience and leadership to navigate an increasingly uncertain and dynamic global landscape.
All these factors contribute to a broad sense of instability and push inequalities forward, as the most prepared professionals are usually the ones with higher education and greater social status. In the long run, with the absence of a structured retirement and health insurance system, in which companies previously contributed significantly, the problem deepens even more. Governments and companies will need to rethink policies around healthcare, retirement, and worker protections to avoid a race to the bottom.
It is very likely that the nine-to-five schedule might not vanish entirely, but it won’t be the default anymore. In its place, we might see a work culture where agility, continuous learning, and strategic networking matter more than a fixed schedule. And workers’ organizations will gain unprecedented importance as they fight for better conditions.
