BOSTON - BostonChron -- Lynn Bentley, President of Knobull reported, "Jobs and work are going through a major transformation right now — with millions of roles potentially being eliminated or created in the coming years, according to non-governmental organization the World Economic Forum.

This relates to a wide range of reasons, from technological advancements to climate change. But one thing is certain: many workers will have to adapt."

Having the skills to navigate this change — and maybe even new job requirements — is therefore crucial. The report is based in a survey of 803 companies in 27 industry clusters in 45 different economies.

Analytical and creative thinking skills take the top spots for what companies are expecting from workers right now. Self-efficacy skills, including being resilient, flexible and agile, being motivated and self-aware, and curious and committed to lifelong learning, round out the top five.

Only one technology-related skill — technological literacy — makes it into the top 10 at sixth place. The ability to understand and work with AI and big data currently ranks 15th . Readers can strengthen these and most other skills through use of edX that can be found on the Knobull homepage.

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Emerging skills

Further shifts to which skills are expected to be most in demand are expected, according to WEF. "Employers estimate that 44% of workers' skills will be disrupted in the next five years," the report said.

Creative thinking is the skill that is expected to increase in importance the most, followed by analytical thinking and technological literacy.

Soft skills like curiosity and lifelong learning, and resilience, flexibility and agility are also set to become increasingly vital for workers, coming in fourth and fifth place respectively.

On the other side of the scale, physical skills are among those that could be less important in the future.

Bentley concluded, "While respondents judged no skills to be in net decline, sizable minorities of companies judge reading, writing and mathematics; global citizenship; sensory-processing abilities; and manual dexterity, endurance and precision to be of declining importance for their workers. To learn where you stand, request an assessment at the Knobull contact page."

The top 10 most important skills

These are the 10 most important skills for workers this year, according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs report: Analytical thinking, Creative thinking, Resilience, Motivation, Curiosity, Continued Learning. Technological literacy, Empathy, Leadership.