“Change has never happened this fast before, and it will never be this slow again.” These are the words of journalist Graeme Wood. And he’s correct.

Shaped by digitization, wide-ranging and complex changes are currently sweeping through politics, society, and the economy. And the end to all this acceleration is nowhere in sight. I often ask myself how, and if, we are supposed to keep up? Some people seem to have no problem with the pace, while others clearly suffer, or appear resigned.

While searching for possible answers, I stumbled upon a list, published recently by the World Economic Forum (WEF), that details the ten most important skills needed in order to thrive in the employment market of the future. According to the WEF, the three most important skills will be ‘complex problem solving’, ‘critical thinking’, and ‘creativity’.

Complex problem solving is something that many can relate to, particularly those working in STEM. Critical thinking and creativity, however, often involve questioning tried-and-tested approaches and venturing into uncertain terrain. This is something that many people find difficult. Yet it presents an enormous opportunity.

Digital transformation demands we constantly evolve

Digitization radically shortens the half-life of our knowledge, of our competencies, of our processes, and of our organizational models. Continually learning and refashioning ourselves are no longer options — they’re becoming a necessity. What sounds like something arduous at first actually brings significantly more opportunities for development, or even for forging completely new career paths.

Digital transformation therefore forces us to think about questions that are deeply relevant to today: What function does work fulfill in society? Why is corporate culture becoming so important for the success of a company? How can we impart the skills relevant to the future? How can we scale education and nevertheless personalize it? What frameworks will make us fit for the future, and will they support existing ways of thinking, processes, and systems? What forms of employment will we think of as ‘work’ in the future, and how will people be remunerated for them? All these questions focus on the human need to belong to a community, as well as our quest for personal development, a sense of purpose, and respect.

Finding future-proof solutions

While there are no ready-made answers, they certainly won’t come from a small group of people behind closed doors. Digitization is driving an ever-greater need for transparency and participation — and we should work together to come up with answers to these questions through the process of co-creation.

We’ll make some mistakes while looking for them and try out novel ideas but, in the process, we will learn a great deal, and come up with ideas that today are unimaginable. What’s important is that we are open to it, that we keep the dialogue going, and that, despite the tremendous effort required by us all, we don’t lose our enthusiasm for the future.

Today’s generation entering the workforce understands this and are already integrating it into their life plans. Highly important factors considered by candidates when selecting their ideal employer are, among others, whether the company’s purpose is appealing to them and whether its culture suits them personally. Do they offer attractive opportunities for continuous personal development, and do they enable employees to balance their private life with their work life?

Even if these demands and ideas are initially considered challenging, and some companies may find them hard to implement, I have no doubt that these are highly relevant issues. In my opinion, by addressing them, the newest generation of workers have done us all a great favor.

In the digital age, it’s therefore not primarily a question of technology, rather of how we want to shape a digital world for ourselves. In any case, we are no longer in a position to compete with machines. It’s therefore time that we revisit what our ‘core competency’ is as humans, and focus on this aspect of ourselves for the future.

This article was published on LinkedIn Pulse by Rosa Riera and has been translated from German.

Over the past decade, Rosa has developed her team to become a center of competence for employer value proposition, employer branding, global employer brand programs, and employee engagement via corporate volunteering. She lives in Munich, Germany. Find out more about working at Siemens.