Strategic Benefits of Nearshore Operations in 2026

You're at a tipping point: quick technology adoption, shifting abilities, and new expectations are requiring you to reconsider how your company produces value through people. International Skill Trends 2026 offers you a dataled, useful view of the labor force trends forming your decisionsdrawn from a worldwide survey of nearly 12,000 executives, HR leaders, staff members, and investors across 16 locations and 16 industriesand reveals you: How peers are redesigning work to mix human ability with automation What AI in the work environment looks like How to prepare for the AI future of work Which future-fit abilities to establish How to hone your employee value proposition to drive efficiency.

The authors are grateful to Karen Pastakia, Kate Sweeney, Simona Spelman, Costs Briggs, and Nitin Mittal for their time, input, and consistent partnership throughout this effort. Unique thanks to Catherine Gergen for her reliable research support and coordination in writing this Intro. A special note of acknowledgment is reserved for Ishani Purohit and Olivia Rueger, whose constant project management stewardship over the past year managed every moving piece of this reportfrom early planning through last productionkeeping the team aligned, momentum strong, and execution smooth.

The authors extend thanks to the rapid eye movement teamMatt Deruntz, Maria Neira, Qiaoli Wang, Manshreya Grover, Nirupam Datta, Charu Ratnu, Santhosh Naidu, Derek Taylor, Marcella Hines, Parag Zalpuri, Chris Tomke, and Luly Castillerofor their unfaltering partnership and behind-the-scenes execution that kept the work moving from draft to delivery. The authors also recognize the Deloitte Insights teamCorrie Commisso, Hannah Bachman, Annalyn Kurtz, Alexis Werbeck, Jim Slatton, Govindh Raj, and Molly Piersol, and the data visualization team, whose editorial rigor, storytelling craft, and visual clearness honed the narrative and brought the insights to life.

Thank you to the Global Human Capital executive teamKate Sweeney, Kate Morican, Amanda Flouch, Nathalie Vandaele, Jodi Baker Calamai, Dheeraj Sharma, Franz Gilbert, Karen Pastakia, Simona Spelman, Yasushi Muranaka, Tom Alstein, Sebastian Pfeifle, John Brownridge, Kurt Proctor-Parker, Pat Shannon, Andrew Potts, Dahlia Katz, Ava Damri, Kelly Nelson, Joan Pere Salom, Gerhard Botha, and Stuart Scotisfor sponsoring and supporting the worldwide reach of this report.

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The authors likewise extend sincere thanks to the clients who kindly shared their time and experiences through interviews conducted for this report. Their honest insights and perspectives improved our expedition, grounded the thoughtful analysis in real-world realities, and strengthened the importance and practicality of the findings. Thank you to Lara Martinez Gonzalez, international director of talent intelligence, AstraZeneca; Michelle Robertson, executive board member (worldwide human resources, individuals and culture), Adidas; Emily Bacon, senior supervisor, organization and people technique, Adobe; Zac Parris, former director of organizational efficiency, Atlassian; Taeko Kawano, executive officer and chief personnels officer, AXA; Justin Zaccaria, primary human resources officer, Bechtel; Matt Schuyler, chief people officer, Creative Artists Agency (CAA); Megan Bazan, vice president of people, Cisco; Charlotte Wolf Tarfa, vice president, international skill method and succession, Coca-Cola; Melissa Collier, director, change management, Georgia-Pacific; Elise Bathurst, director of individuals operations, Google; Courtney Gilliland, senior director, United States personnels, Gordon Food Service; Lindsey Taylor, senior director, strategic workforce preparation and people analytics, Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Marcia Oglen, senior vice president, business personnels, Highmark Health; Jon Pitts, creator and chief technical officer, Ihp Analytics; Reiko Mukai, primary human resources officer, MetLife Japan; Charlotte Simpson, corporate officer and head of people and company, Novartis Japan; Heather Neville, senior vice president, individuals and locations strategy and operations, Sony Interactive Entertainment; Jill Larsen, primary people officer, Synopsys; Niki Rose, labor force experience and capability executive, Telstra; Tomoko Adachi, international chief human resources officer, Terumo Corporation; and Michael Ehret, senior vice president and primary people officer, Walmart International.

Optimizing Business Processes for Global Growth

CEO expectations for AI-driven growth remain high in 2026at the same time their labor forces are facing the more sober reality of existing AI performance. Gartner research study finds that only one in 50 AI financial investments provide transformational worth, and only one in 5 delivers any quantifiable return on investment.

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AI has the prospective to result in significant shifts in how we hire and who we work with. As AI increasingly handles the less complex, more repeatable jobs being done by the workforce, companies will require to work with talent who have wider, uniquely human abilities. We're seeing increasing demand for abilities like problem-solving, versatility, and collaboration abilities that spur organizational dexterity.