Zimbabwe is standing at the edge of a global labour market transformation that is moving faster than any industrial shift in modern history. 

According to the National Competitiveness Commission, frontier technologies led by Artificial Intelligence, robotics, next generation energy systems, and advanced networks  are becoming the most powerful forces reshaping the world’s largest workforce.

In its report, “Technology and the Future of the World’s Largest Workforce and its implication to Zimbabwe,” the NCC warns that “workforce-transforming technologies will have productivity or capability boosts but also substantial or systemic risk requiring governance and compliance structures.”

This new era is expected to redefine not only jobs, but the skills, tools, and economic models countries like Zimbabwe will depend on.

Frontier Technologies Are Reshaping 80% of the World’s Jobs

The NCC draws on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Jobs and Frontier Technologies, which identifies four technologies that will disrupt work at scale:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Robotics and autonomous systems
• Energy technologies
• Networks and sensing technologies

According to the WEF paper, these technologies will significantly change job families that collectively employ 80% of the world’s workforce — including agriculture, construction, manufacturing, transport, wholesale and retail trade, business services, and healthcare.

The WEF notes that these technologies are the most likely to generate both “societal benefits” and “systemic risks” across global economies.

AI Leads the Disruption — And 86% of Employers Are Preparing

The NCC report highlights a particularly striking statistic:
“86% of employers expect [AI] will transform their organisation by 2030.”

This means that AI adoption is no longer a distant possibility — it is an ongoing transition that businesses are already preparing for. The NCC notes that AI is expected to transform:

• Efficiency and operational processes
• Automation of routine tasks
• Customer service and client interaction
• Fraud detection and risk analysis
• Data-driven decision-making

As the report emphasises, AI is central to competitiveness, productivity, and survival in tomorrow’s business environment.

What This Global Shift Means for Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s labour market is heavily concentrated in exactly the sectors the WEF warns will undergo the most dramatic transformation.

The NCC cautions that these technologies will have “major implications for Zimbabwe’s workforce, given its structural characteristics and the nature of its dominant job families.”

In simple terms:
the jobs most Zimbabweans depend on today — agriculture, mining, manufacturing, retail, and logistics — will not be the same jobs available tomorrow.

And without planning, the shifts could widen inequality.

The NCC states that managing this change requires “workforce readiness, enabling market structures, and investment in technology diffusion.”

Beyond Opportunity: A Warning on Risk

While frontier technologies promise new job categories, Zimbabwe could face severe skills displacement if the right foundations are not laid.

The report notes that these technologies present “substantial or systemic risk” and stresses that Zimbabwe must ensure that adoption does not leave workers behind.

A key warning emerging from the WEF paper — and echoed by NCC — is that countries with low digital readiness face the greatest risk of labour market disruption.

Zimbabwe’s challenge is therefore twofold:

1. Prepare workers for new types of jobs.
2. Protect vulnerable labour segments during the transition.

Building a Workforce That Can Compete in 2030 and Beyond

The NCC emphasises that future-ready economies will be those that build:

• digitally competent workforces
• agile education systems
• supportive policies
• enabling economic and technological infrastructure

The report points out that creating “higher-productivity, inclusive jobs” requires strong collaboration between:

• government
• private sector
• academia
• training institutions
• labour organisations

All must align around a single priority: skills for the future of work.

The Most Critical Skills for Zimbabweans

While the report does not offer a list of country-specific skills, it relies on WEF data to identify future-facing roles that frontier technologies will demand across the world:

• Data analysts and data scientists
• AI and machine-learning specialists
• Robotics technicians
• Software developers
• Cybersecurity specialists
• Digital commerce and digital service workers
• Renewable-energy technicians
• Network and systems engineers

These skill sets will determine which countries thrive in the new global economy — and which fall behind.

Why Zimbabwe Must Act Now

The NCC concludes that the transformation is unavoidable — and imminent.

The report stresses that “the question is not whether workforce-transforming technologies will change the world, but whether economies are prepared to maximise the benefits and mitigate the risks.”

For Zimbabwe, the stakes are exceptionally high. With a young population, high unemployment, and a labour force concentrated in threatened job categories, the coming technological revolution could either:

• create new pathways to opportunity, or
• deepen the country’s vulnerabilities.

The report shows that the future of work will not wait for Zimbabwe to catch up.

Conclusion: A Choice Between Readiness and Risk

The NCC’s analysis makes one thing clear:
Zimbabwe stands at a defining moment.

The country must choose between:

• proactive skills development,
• technology-aligned education,
• policy reform, and
• future-ready infrastructure