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Anyone who wants to understand why companies are so urgently seeking talent today needs to compare two documents that, at first glance, appear to have little in common. One provides a bird’s-eye view of the working world of tomorrow: the Haufe Academy’s Trend Radar 2026, which analyses 15 strategic areas of action for organisations and describes which skills will be in demand in the coming years. The other looks at where these skills are – or are not – being developed: the Swiss STEM Youth Barometer 2026 by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, which, based on over 5,000 surveys, examines how school pupils, students and working people perceive STEM subjects, what interests they develop and how they make their career and study choices. Together, the two studies tell a story about two sides of the same coin and about a gap that opens up at an early stage.
The Trend Radar paints a clear picture: the world of work is not changing along a single axis, but under simultaneous pressure from several directions. Artificial intelligence, regulatory requirements, cyber threats and structural volatility are placing new demands on people within organisations. Particularly striking is what the Trend Radar notes under ‘Learning and Development’: according to the World Economic Forum, around 39 per cent of core competencies in the labour market will change by 2030 (Trend Radar, p. 15, citing WEF 2025). There is an increasing demand for ‘hybrid profiles that combine specialist knowledge with the ability to learn, an understanding of data and technology, regulatory knowledge, systemic thinking, and social and communication skills’ (Trend Radar, p. 5).
What sounds like a comprehensive shift in core competencies has, however, long been described by the education sector: For instance, the Young Talent Barometer defines ‘being STEM-competent’ as the ability to ‘understand and solve problems in real-world contexts’, with the so-called 21st-century skills also playing a central role: creativity and innovation, critical thinking, cooperation and communication (Young Talent Barometer, p. 6). This description reads almost identically to the requirements set out in the Trend Radar.
Nowhere is the overlap between the two studies more evident than on the subject of artificial intelligence. The Trend Radar classifies ‘AI Strategy’ as the most urgent area for action – it moves directly from ‘Create’ to ‘Act’, i.e. into the zone requiring immediate action (Trend Radar, p. 8). The real challenge no longer lies in getting started with AI, but in scaling it up, governance and the ability to critically evaluate AI outputs rather than accepting them uncritically (Trend Radar, p. 12ff.). What is required is ‘judgement’ and the ability to consciously assume responsibility in the collaboration between humans and systems (Trend Radar, p. 13).
The Young Talent Barometer also addresses this point: AI plays “an increasingly significant role not only in private life but also in a professional context”, which is why the competent use of AI is becoming “important in more and more areas” and, consequently, the promotion of these skills within the framework of STEM talent development (Young Talent Barometer, p. 6). The Trend Radar describes the goal. The Young Talent Barometer shows where the path to it begins: in classrooms, where young people learn to tackle problems analytically, interpret data and acquire new knowledge independently.
Both documents also bring to light findings that give pause for thought. Under ‘Global Talent Sourcing’, the Trend Radar notes that 74 per cent of employers worldwide are struggling to fill vacancies – a proportion that has more than doubled since 2014 (Trend Radar, p. 51, citing ManpowerGroup 2025). For Switzerland, the Young Talent Barometer confirms this finding and elaborates on it: despite some positive developments – such as a rising proportion of STEM degree graduates – the shortage of specialised skilled workers, particularly in engineering and certain sectors of the construction industry, persists (Young Talent Barometer, p. 16, citing Adecco 2025).
However, what the Trend Radar does not mention at this point is made explicit by the Young Talent Barometer: a significant proportion of this skills shortage is gender-related (Young Talent Barometer, p. 24). Around 80 per cent of respondents cite gender stereotypes as a possible cause of the shortage of STEM professionals, and around 90 per cent see them as the main reason for the persistently low proportion of women in STEM professions (Young Talent Barometer, p. 21ff.). Only one in twelve female pupils in Year 9 aspires to a STEM career – compared with one in four male pupils (Young Talent Barometer, p. 17, citing Jann & Hupka-Brunner 2020). This is not a marginal issue. It is a structural waste of resources at a time when skills are in short supply.
Decisions that shape a person’s future are made early on. Both studies agree on this. The Trend Radar also emphasises that learning can no longer be a one-off act, but must become a continuous mindset, and that managers are increasingly in demand as ‘facilitators of learning environments’ that ‘allow for curiosity, reflection, experimentation and mutual learning’ (Trend Radar, p. 16). The Young Talent Barometer shows that this curiosity by no means arises of its own accord: general interest in STEM subjects among respondents is ‘rather moderate’ (average score of 5.8 on a scale of 1 to 10), although interest in specific contexts and applications is significantly higher (Young Talent Barometer, p. 12ff.). The conclusion is clear: those who teach STEM in the abstract will lose out. Those who link it to real-world problems – such as climate issues, medical applications and technological developments – capture people’s attention.
Teachers therefore play a central role. The Young Talent Barometer also confirms that supportive and appreciative behaviour on the part of teachers promotes general interest in STEM and contributes to decisions in favour of a STEM educational pathway (Young Talent Barometer, p. 16). It is often small gestures that make the difference.
The Trend Radar and the Young Talent Barometer come from different worlds – management consultancy and educational research. Yet when read together, it becomes clear that they diagnose the same problem from different perspectives. The working world of tomorrow needs people who can think analytically, communicate, learn and adapt. Today’s education system has the task of nurturing precisely these people – everyone, regardless of gender, origin or socio-economic background.
The 2026 STEM Young Talent Barometer provides an up-to-date empirical basis for this, which is relevant not only to those responsible for education but also to businesses, careers advisers and parents. After all, the skills shortage of the day after tomorrow will be shaped by decisions made today – often in a classroom, sometimes at the kitchen table.
The Swiss STEM Youth Barometer 2026 was compiled by Susanne Metzer and Laura Villardita of the FHNW School of Education on behalf of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences and carried out under the leadership of SATW as part of the STEM mandate. The study was developed in close coordination with ETH Zurich’s STEM Sentiment Barometer 2025, which tracks trends in perceptions of STEM as part of a representative long-term study.
| Role | Title + Name |
|---|---|
| Text by | Esther Lombardini |
| Expertise | Tobias Schlegel, Edith Schnapper |
