By Dr Sunil Barsaiyan
Varun Kumar, 35, always believed he was doing everything right.
A young software developer, technically sound, and deeply focused on his work, Varun built his identity around his tech proficiency. He wasn’t very social. Conversations drained him. Presentations made him uncomfortable. Networking felt unnecessary. In his mind, none of it mattered as long as he was good at what he did.
Growing up, he was conditioned to chase marks and stay ahead academically. Everything else, was treated as extracurricular, optional, and not as important.
For years, that belief worked.
Until it didn’t.
A few months ago, Varun was laid off. His company was restructuring. AI tools had started taking over repetitive coding tasks. Teams were shrinking. Roles were being redefined.
And suddenly, his technical expertise was no longer his moat.
What hurt more was what came after.
Varun now wanted to pivot, to explore new roles, to upskill. But he struggled to express himself in interviews. He found it difficult to collaborate in open environments. He lacked the confidence to put his ideas forward. His personality, which he once ignored, had now become his biggest limitation.
Varun’s story is not an exception anymore. It is becoming the norm.
The shift we are living through
We are entering a world where AI is not just assisting work, it is redefining it.
Tasks that were once considered “high skill” are getting automated. Coding, content generation, data analysis, design & even decision support is now augmented by AI.
The scale of this disruption is staggering. The World Economic Forum‘s Future of Jobs Report 2025, which surveyed over 1,000 employers representing more than 14 million workers across 55 economies, projects that 92 million roles will be displaced by 2030 while 170 million new roles emerge. But here lies the critical caveat, these new roles will not go to the same people doing the displaced jobs, unless those people adapt.
Closer to home, the picture is equally concerning. India’s Graduate Skill Index (Mercer-Mettl, 2025) found that only 42.6% of Indian graduates were employable in 2024, a figure that has been declining. The gap is not primarily technical. The index points squarely at non-technical skill deficiencies as the leading cause.
Employers in India consistently report that even academically qualified graduates lack the one thing that matters most, the ability to communicate, collaborate, and adapt. India produces over 1.5 million engineering graduates annually, yet less than a third are considered job-ready by industry standards. Volume has not translated into value
Some stats worth noting
- 41% of employers worldwide plan to reduce their workforce in the next 5 years due to AI automation- World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025
- 42.6% of Indian graduates were employable in 2024 with soft skills the primary gap- Mercer-Mettl India Graduate Skill Index, 2025
- 39% of core skills are expected to change for most workers by 2030 – World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025
- 69% of U.S. executives prioritise candidates with strong soft skills, including emotional intelligence, over technical skills alone – LinkedIn Global Talent Trends, 2024
Life Skills: The Real Differentiator
Life skills are not ‘extra’ anymore. They are becoming core survival skills for the 21st century. And the research is unambiguous about why.
The WEF’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 lists creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, leadership, social influence, and empathy among the fastest-growing skills by 2030. These are not emerging alongside AI; they are rising precisely because of AI. The more machines handle technical tasks, the more human qualities determine who stands out.
A meta-analysis of 150 studies covering nearly 51,000 participants (Human Resource Management Review, 2023) found that emotional intelligence was significantly linked to career adaptability, salary levels, career satisfaction and entrepreneurial success. Studies by TalentSmartEQ show that 90% of top performers possess high emotional intelligence, a figure that holds across industries and roles. Google’s Aristotle study, which analysed what made teams succeed, concluded that psychological safety, empathy and communication, not technical skill, were the primary differentiators of high-performing teams.
Skills every child must learn early
- Communication mastery – The ability to clearly express ideas in meetings, presentations, emails, and conversations is the single most requested skill by Indian employers. Yet rote-learning systems rarely train it.
- Public Speaking – Confidence on stage and in conversation is built, not born. Students who learn to speak early develop a lifelong advantage in interviews, leadership, and persuasion.
- Design Thinking – The ability to frame problems, think creatively, and build solutions that work for real people is at the heart of every role that AI cannot fill.
- Team Collaboration – In an increasingly diverse, global, and hybrid workforce, the ability to contribute to and lead teams is indispensable. WEF ranks leadership and social influence among the top 10 growing skills by 2030.
- Adaptability – With 39% of core job skills expected to change in the next five years, adaptability is no longer a personality trait, it is a professional necessity
- Emotional Intelligence – Research suggests emotional intelligence is responsible for nearly 58% of job performance across roles and industries (Skillogy, 2025). It determines how you manage pressure, lead people, and navigate conflict.
AI can write the code.
It can generate presentations.
It can analyse the big data.
But it cannot replace someone’s presence in a room, their ability to persuade, their creativity in solving real problems, or the confidence to lead people
Why this matters for school students
The biggest mistake we make today is preparing children for a world that no longer exists. For decades, education has been built around marks, memorisation, and subject knowledge. The future will reward expression, application, personality and problem-solving.
A student who scores 95% but cannot communicate ideas, will struggle.
A student who knows concepts but cannot apply them, will fall behind.
A student who avoids interaction, will find it difficult to grow.
On the other hand
A child who can speak with confidence,
think independently,
work with others,
and adapt quickly
will always find a way forward, no matter how the world changes.
Entry-level jobs, the first rung on any career ladder, are especially at risk. Research from SignalFire shows that big tech companies reduced new graduate hiring by 25% in 2024 compared to 2023. AI firm Anthropic’s CEO has warned that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. Young people entering the workforce today are walking into a labour market that has already begun to change around them.
The big shift that schools can’t ignore
Life skills cannot be taught through textbooks alone. They need exposure over theory, practice over perfection and safe spaces over fear of judgement. Here is where schools can act immediately
1. Build a structured life skills curriculum – Create a dedicated, timetabled life skills programme, not a once-a-year event. Weekly sessions on communication, public speaking, money skills and critical thinking should be non-negotiable from early-years itself.
2. Stage exposure, early and often – Every student should have regular opportunities to speak in front of others, such as morning assemblies, inter-class debates and subject presentations. Stage confidence is built through repetition, not instruction.
3. Make collaboration structural – Design assignments, projects and assessments that require teamwork across subjects and grades. Group outcomes, not just individual scores, should count toward evaluation.
4. Introduce Design Thinking in the classroom – Adopt problem-based learning: give students real-world challenges to solve, such as community issues, design briefs, and social problems. This trains both creativity and empathy in tandem.
5. Replace the fear of judgement with psychological safety – Create classroom cultures where students feel safe to express, question, and even fail. Research from Google’s Project Aristotle confirms that psychological safety is the foundation of all high performance.
6. Invest in teacher training – Life skills pedagogy is different from academic instruction. Teachers need training to facilitate discussion, encourage self-expression and coach rather than lecture.
7. Use assessment to reflect what matters – If life skills are taught but not assessed, students and parents will not take them seriously. Introduce rubrics for communication, collaboration and critical thinking alongside subject marks.
8. Forge partnerships for the new reality – Establish partnerships with firms offering specialized training services to bring the required culture and perspective for student success.
The shift parents must make
Parents are the most powerful influencers in a child’s development and the most underused resource in building life skills. The shift starts at home.
1. Change the conversation at the dinner table – Stop making marks the primary topic of family conversation. Ask instead, “What did you figure out today?”, “How did you handle that disagreement with your friend?”, “What would you do differently?”
2. Enrol children in structured programmes – Public speaking, theatre, debate, sports, music, financial literacy, creative thinking, young entrepreneurship and IP awareness are not distractions from education. They are where life skills are formed. Prioritise them with the same seriousness as academics.
3. Resist rescuing – When a child faces a conflict, a setback, or a difficult social situation, the instinct to step in is strong. Resist it. Problem-solving, resilience and emotional regulation are built through navigating difficulty, not avoiding it.
4. Talk about the future of work honestly – Children as young as 12 can understand that the job market is changing. Have age-appropriate conversations about AI, about what skills will matter and about why personality and adaptability are as important as performance.
5. Model emotional Intelligence at home – Children learn how to handle emotions, conflict and disagreement by watching adults. The single most powerful thing a parent can do is demonstrate self-awareness, empathy and constructive communication in daily life.
6. Reframe definition of failure – A child who has never failed has never truly been challenged. Reframe failure as feedback, something to learn from, not something to hide. This mindset is the foundation of adaptability.
The human advantage is still ours to claim
The global skills gap is projected to cost the world economy $8.5 trillion in lost revenues by 2030 (Korn Ferry). India, with over 65% of its population under the age of 35, has both the most to gain and the most to lose in this transition.
AI will continue to grow. Jobs will continue to change. Roles will disappear and reappear in new forms. But one thing will remain constant, the human advantage. The skills that make us irreplaceable are not the ones that can be entered into a prompt. They are the ones we build through practice, through relationships, through failure, and through presence.
The question for every school and every parent is no longer –
“How much does my child know?”
It is: “Can my child express, apply, adapt, and connect?”
Life skills are not just helpful extras. In the age of AI, they are the most valuable career insurance a child can have. And the time to build them is not during summer breaks; it is right now, alongside school studies, with the utmost seriousness.
– The author is the Director of Amity Education Group
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETEducation does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETEducation will not be responsible for any damage caused to any person or organisation directly or indirectly.
