The Future of Jobs 2030 — What It Means for the Blue Economy

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2025 publication signals net job growth to 2030 and a surge in green and data skills. Here’s how offshore wind, ports, aquaculture, and marine data careers will evolve —and how to prepare.

The World Economic Forum’s Future (WEF) of Jobs Report 2025 sets a clear direction for the next five years: technological change and the green transition will reshape hiring, skills, and workforce strategies through 2030. The WEF projects 22% total job churn by 2030, made up of 14% job creation (≈170M roles) and 8% displacement (≈92M)—a net +7% (≈78M). Climate-change mitigation ranks as the #3 most transformative trend overall (adaptation is #6), and environmental stewardship enters the top-10 fastest-growing skills for the first time. Meanwhile, AI & big data, networks/cybersecurity, and technology literacy are the top three fastest-growing skills globally. 

For blue-economy employers and candidates, this isn’t abstract. It translates directly into how ports decarbonize, how offshore wind scales (including floating), how aquaculture expands sustainably, and how ocean data and maritime cybersecurity underpin operations.

The signal from WEF: numbers, trends, skills

• Macro outlook (2025–2030): 22% churn; +170M roles created, −92M displaced; net +78M. Frontline roles grow in absolute numbers; technology and green roles grow fastest by rate. Skill instability remains high: 39% of current skill sets will transform or become outdated by 2030.
  
  

• Top drivers: Broadening digital access, AI/information processing, robotics/automation, and energy generation, storage and distribution (41% of employers) will transform business models by 2030; climate mitigation (#3) and adaptation (#6) will accelerate demand for renewable and environmental engineers.
  
  

• Skills and talent strategy: AI & big data, networks/cybersecurity, technology literacy lead growth; analytical thinking remains the most sought-after core skill. Skill gaps are the #1 barrier to business transformation (63% of employers), with 85% planning to prioritise upskilling; 59 of 100 workers will need training by 2030.
  
  

What this means for blue-economy hiring

1) Offshore renewables (fixed and floating wind)

With “energy generation, storage and distribution” flagged as a major transformative trend, expect sustained demand for project and electrical engineers, foundation and mooring specialists, dynamic-cable engineers, SCADA/controls talent, HSE leads for deep-water operations, and remote O&M roles. Candidates reskilling from oil & gas remain well-positioned if they can demonstrate environmental stewardship and AI-assisted data fluency (e.g., condition-based maintenance, anomaly detection).

2) Green ports and low-carbon shipping

Port authorities and terminal operators will accelerate OPS (on-shore power supply) deployment, grid integration, energy-efficiency retrofits, and emissions monitoring. Hiring will tilt toward electrical systems, power systems integration, carbon accounting & reporting, OT/IT network security, and change-management leadership—a direct response to climate and technology trends highlighted by WEF.

3) Ocean data, AI and maritime cybersecurity

As AI, information processing, and cybersecurity top the skills lists, ocean-data analysts, marine sensing & telemetry engineers, and port/shipboard cybersecurity specialists move from “nice to have” to critical infrastructure. Expect more roles blending Python/ML for ocean data, time-series QA/QC, and secure data pipelines across research vessels, ports, and coastal observatories. 

4) Conservation, licensing and coastal resilience

With mitigation and adaptation ranked among the most transformative forces, EIA lead specialists, marine ecologists, biodiversity monitoring coordinators, and permitting/compliance managers will be central to derisking offshore projects and protecting ecosystems. The rise of environmental stewardship as a top-10 skill is a clear talent signal for blue-economy careers with public and private stakeholders. 

Skills to prioritise (2025–2030)

• Core: Analytical thinking; resilience, flexibility & agility; leadership and social influence.

• Tech: AI & big data, networks/cybersecurity, technology literacy.

• Green: Environmental stewardship, resource management & operations, quality control.
  
  

These are the skills most strongly associated with growing roles versus declining ones in the WEF analysis. Align your learning plan and job architecture to them. 

A practical playbook

For candidates

1. Align to growth roles. Target offshore renewables, port electrification, ocean data, and conservation/permitting.
   
   

2. Build visible proof. Publish a concise portfolio—dashboards, GIS layers, reliability models, permitting matrices—with outcomes tied to safety, uptime, compliance, or emissions.
   
   

3. Stack the right credentials. Combine GWO/STCW/IMCA (as relevant) with short courses in AI for time-series/ocean data and industrial cybersecurity.
   
   

4. Signal stewardship. Document environmental baselines, monitoring plans, and mitigation outcomes in your applications.
   
   

5. Use internal anchors on Blue-jobs. Deepen your profile with posts like The 6 Essential Skills Every Blue Expert Needs and After a Bachelor’s Degree: The Pathways Towards Your Blue Career, and subscribe to job alerts for “offshore wind”, “port electrification”, “marine data analyst”, or “aquaculture”.
   
   

For employers (ports, shipowners, developers, research institutes)

1. Map critical roles to WEF skills. Refresh job families to highlight AI/data, cybersecurity, and stewardship; make these explicit in postings.
   
   

2. Design reskilling routes. Build 6–12 month internal pathways from oil & gas, electrical works, or field tech into offshore wind O&M, port electrification, or data operations.
   
   

3. Measure the upskilling flywheel. Track time-to-competence, certification attainment, and incident/uptime improvements. WEF data show skill gaps (63%) are the biggest blocker; 85% of employers will prioritise upskilling—be one of them.
   
   

4. Hire for adaptability. Screen for resilience, agility, and leadership-influence; WEF flags these as differentiators between growing and declining roles.
   
   

5. Partner where the talent is. Use Blue-jobs campaigns to reach niche candidates and align your employer brand with the sector’s climate and data missions.
   
   

The WEF’s 2025 outlook is unambiguous: the green transition and AI-driven digitisation will create more roles than they eliminate, but only organisations and professionals that close skill gaps—especially in environmental stewardship, AI/data and cybersecurity—will capture the upside in the blue economy.

Start now: align your roadmap to the skills and roles above, and use Blue-jobs to discover openings, set alerts, and showcase your relevance.

Source: World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025: https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/