The global labor market is undergoing one of the most epochal transitions, driven by technological innovation, economic and geopolitical uncertainty, demographic change, and evolving consumer behavior. According to the Future of Jobs Report 2025 compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF), nearly 170 million new jobs are projected to be created by 2030, even as 92 million positions are displaced, resulting in an expected net increase of 78 million jobs worldwide. These shifts underscore the dynamic future of work, including the field of marketing and sales, where roles and required skills are being reshaped by new digital tools, changing consumer behaviors, digital business models, and artificial intelligence (AI).
For more than a centennial period, marketing has been a core function in organizations: building brands, understanding consumers, and perpetuating demand. In the future, marketing roles will continue to evolve rather than vanish. For instance, jobs of Digital Marketing and Strategy Specialists are projected to experience growth, reflecting the ongoing importance of digital engagement and data-driven strategy in business models. Digital marketing professionals help organizations navigate a rapidly changing digital ecosystem blending analytics, creativity, and customer insights to reach audiences across diverse platforms.
In contrast, traditional Sales and Marketing Professionals have faced recent headwinds, with growth in this profession declining. WEF identifies the slower economic growth as a principal contributor to a decline across several job categories, including sales and marketing roles. Economic pressures lead some firms to reduce staff or streamline traditional functions in favor of digitalized or outsourced solutions. However, paradoxically, slower economic growth is also projected to drive growth in adjacent roles such as Sales Representatives and Business Development Professionals, particularly as firms (B2B-focused ones in particular) intend to capitalize on the human nature of (customer) relationships and pursue new levels of efficiency and novel avenues for revenue growth.
Despite fluctuations in specific job categories, marketing and media skills remain critically important across workforce. In the WEF’s ranking of core skills for 2025, marketing and media skills appear among the top 20 skills employers consider essential. Notably, the top three skills identified in the report – analytical thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, and leadership and social influence – reflect the types of abilities that marketing professionals have long cultivated. These skills support evidence-based decision-making, effective team management, and adaptive (fast) responses to change, all of which are essential for success in a marketing and/or sales career.
Beyond the ten fastest-growing skills, design and user experience, along with marketing and media skills, are also expected to gain importance, largely driven by ongoing technological advancements. This trend reflects organizations’ growing need to deliver seamless, engaging digital experiences and to better understand evolving consumer behavior in an increasingly online (business) environment. Marketing professionals who are capable to integrate creative storytelling with responsive, user-centered digital design will therefore be in high demand, particularly as customer and user experience become among the last remaining meaningful differentiators in highly competitive markets.
The WEF report also highlights the prominence of engagement skills, which include marketing and media, alongside service orientation and customer service. These skills are critical for building lasting relationships with customers and delivering value through meaningful interactions. In an era where customer expectations are rapidly evolving, engagement skills help professionals craft authentic brand experiences, navigate complex offerings, and strengthen loyalty – roles that automation alone cannot fulfill.
One of the most obvious and recently debated aspects of the future labor market is the impact of generative AI. On the one hand, AI tools can perform tasks traditionally done by marketers – from generating content, performing easy creative tasks, and optimizing ad campaigns to analyzing large datasets. This has led some to speculate that marketing and media skills could be partially substituted by generative AI in the near future. Indeed, certain routine or repetitive marketing tasks may be automated (as ever), prompting concern about job displacement.
On the other hand, AI also presents opportunities for marketing professionals to augment their work and to elevate its quality and effectiveness. By leveraging AI for deep customer insights, marketers can focus on higher-order tasks – strategic thinking, brand innovation, and human-centered storytelling – that are less susceptible to automation. In this sense, AI can be a powerful tool when combined with uniquely human skills such as empathy, creativity, and leadership. This hybrid approach is increasingly valued by employers who emphasize adaptability, curiosity, and continuous learning.
Marketing and sales professionals must continuously update their skills to stay relevant – whether that means mastering new digital platforms, understanding shifts in consumer psychology, or integrating emerging technologies. Moreover, multilingualism (as a proxy for multiculturalism) is highlighted in the report as an asset, particularly in de-globalized markets where cultural understanding and cross-border communication are crucial.
The future of jobs in marketing and sales is neither bleak nor static; rather, it is dynamic and multifaceted. Although some traditional roles may contract due to economic pressures or automation, new opportunities will arise in areas such as digital marketing, strategic roles, and customer experience management. Marketing and media skills remain essential not only within specific occupations but also as part of the broader set of transversal competencies increasingly valued by employers. Success in this evolving landscape will depend on adaptability, continuous learning, and the ability to combine human judgment with technological proficiency. Marketing professionals who embrace and develop these capabilities will be well positioned to thrive in the future world of work.
Résumé
Budoucnost pracovních pozic v marketingu a prodeji v době technologických změn: Ani bezútěšná, ani statická
Budoucnost pracovních pozic v marketingu a prodeji v kontextu zásadních proměn globálního trhu práce je popisována v pravidelných zprávách Světového ekonomického fóra, které jsou publikovány pod názvem Future Jobs Report. Navzdory ekonomické nejistotě, digitalizaci a nástupu generativní umělé inteligence není výhled pro profesní uplatnění v marketingu a prodeji nijak pesimistický. Současná dynamická transformace trhu práce se projevuje mj. růstem počtu pracovních míst v oblasti digitálního marketingu a strategie a narůstajícím významem marketingových a mediálních dovedností jako klíčových přenositelných kompetencí. Narůstá role analytického myšlení, odolnosti, leadershipu, dovedností v oblasti zapojení zákazníků a schopností zaměřených na zákaznickou a uživatelskou zkušenost. Umělá inteligence potenciálně nahrazuje či usnadňuje rutinní činnosti, přičemž zároveň uvolňuje kapacitu pro činnosti s vyšší přidanou hodnotou a/nebo činnosti s nutným rozměrem mezilidské interakce.
