Adaptability will be the most in-demand workforce skill across industries in 2027, according to Korn Ferry’s 13th annual Talent Trends report.
Korn Ferry surveyed more than 1,300 talent and senior leaders, including CHROs, CEOs and board members, in more than 75 countries for the Oct. 22 report.
The firm defines adaptability as “the ability to keep learning and shifting to whatever the job needs next.” The rest of the 2027 list is critical thinking, collaboration, problem-solving, communication, learning agility and AI fluency.
The report finds that the skills a job requires are shifting even when the job title stays the same. Roughly 70% of healthcare respondents said the biggest workforce challenge ahead is that workers’ skills won’t match what the work needs, not a shortage of workers. About two-thirds (64%) of healthcare respondents said they will invest much more in reskilling current employees than in hiring new ones.
Health system HR leaders are already planning around that shift. Eric Cole, corporate senior vice president of human resources at San Diego-based Scripps Health, told Becker’s in October that adaptability is the defining word of the system’s 2027 workforce strategy.
“In 2027, workforce success will be defined by our ability to continuously adapt talent, skills, and resources to evolving patient, workforce, and business needs,” Mr. Cole said. “At Scripps, adaptability means creating a workforce that can learn new skills, move into emerging roles, embrace new technologies and AI, and respond to changing care delivery models without losing sight of what makes us unique.”
Other HR leaders have been pointing to adaptability for more than a year. In August 2025, Jeremy Stephens, then-CHRO of Georgetown, S.C.-based Tidelands Health, told Becker’s that adaptability would be the most critical skill for the future.
“As healthcare continues to incorporate the latest technologies and AI in the coming years, healthcare professionals must be able to continuously adapt as the technologies evolve at a rapid pace,” Mr. Stephens said. “Workers also will need to apply their critical thinking skills to determine the safest, smartest and most appropriate uses for AI to help produce the best outcomes for patients.”
Also in August 2025, Laura Atkinson, CHRO of Louisville, Ky.-based UofL Health, told Becker’s the need for “adaptability to navigate rapid advancements in patient care delivery,” adding that “agility in learning and a growth mindset will be essential to thrive amid uncertainty.”
Denver Health CHRO Amy King pointed to the speed of change as well. “What’s unprecedented and different now is how rapid the change continues to be,” Ms. King told Becker’s that same month. She described adaptability as a muscle organizations have to build, and acknowledged that being proactive rather than reactive is “really easy to speak to” but harder to practice. Her team builds that muscle through leadership development, career pathways and internal mobility, she said at the time.
Adaptability also appeared among CHROs’ top workforce investments for 2026. Joplin, Mo.-based Freeman Health System CHRO Kristan Eaton named it among her nonnegotiable investments for the year. “Workforce adaptability and growth will drive recruitment, retention, and strategic success,” she said in January. That same month, Tulsa, Okla.-based Saint Francis Health System CHRO Jamie Payne said upskilling opportunities “create stability, loyalty and sustainable workforce.”
Korn Ferry’s guidance for building adaptability resembles the internal mobility approach Ms. King and Mr. Cole described. The report recommends moving employees into roles, projects or teams adjacent to what they already know, and publicly rewarding people who try new approaches even when those approaches fall short. Otherwise, “everyone will learn to stick to what they’re good at and play it safe,” the report said. It also notes that adaptability works best alongside collaboration, because “people adapt more quickly when they don’t have to figure everything out alone.”
The investment may pay off in retention as well. In Korn Ferry’s Workforce 2026 survey, 65% of workers said they would stay in their job if it offered learning and development opportunities.
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