The Rise of Nearshore Operations in 2026

You're at a tipping point: rapid technology adoption, moving skills, and brand-new expectations are requiring you to reconsider how your company develops worth through people. International Skill Trends 2026 offers you a dataled, practical view of the workforce patterns shaping your decisionsdrawn from a worldwide survey of almost 12,000 executives, HR leaders, employees, and investors throughout 16 geographies and 16 industriesand reveals you: How peers are upgrading work to mix human capability with automation What AI in the office appears like How to prepare for the AI future of work Which future-fit skills to develop How to sharpen your employee worth proposal to drive performance.

The authors are grateful to Karen Pastakia, Kate Sweeney, Simona Spelman, Expense Briggs, and Nitin Mittal for their time, input, and stable 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 consistent task management stewardship over the previous year managed every moving piece of this reportfrom early planning through last productionkeeping the group lined up, momentum strong, and execution smooth.

The authors extend thanks to the REM 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 steadfast collaboration 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 group, whose editorial rigor, storytelling craft, and visual clarity honed the narrative and brought the insights to life.

Thank you to the Worldwide 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 also extend genuine thanks to the clients who kindly shared their time and experiences through interviews performed for this report. Their honest insights and perspectives enriched our expedition, grounded the thoughtful analysis in real-world truths, and reinforced the relevance and practicality of the findings. Thank you to Lara Martinez Gonzalez, global director of skill intelligence, AstraZeneca; Michelle Robertson, executive board member (international personnels, individuals and culture), Adidas; Emily Bacon, senior supervisor, company 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 Firm (CAA); Megan Bazan, vice president of people, Cisco; Charlotte Wolf Tarfa, vice president, worldwide talent strategy and succession, Coca-Cola; Melissa Collier, director, modification management, Georgia-Pacific; Elise Bathurst, director of people operations, Google; Courtney Gilliland, senior director, US human resources, Gordon Food Service; Lindsey Taylor, senior director, strategic labor force preparation and individuals analytics, Hewlett Packard Business; Marcia Oglen, senior vice president, enterprise personnels, Highmark Health; Jon Pitts, creator and chief technical officer, Ihp Analytics; Reiko Mukai, primary personnels officer, MetLife Japan; Charlotte Simpson, corporate officer and head of individuals and company, Novartis Japan; Heather Neville, senior vice president, people and locations technique and operations, Sony Interactive Entertainment; Jill Larsen, primary people officer, Synopsys; Niki Rose, labor force experience and capability executive, Telstra; Tomoko Adachi, worldwide chief personnels officer, Terumo Corporation; and Michael Ehret, senior vice president and chief people officer, Walmart International.

Comparing Nearshore vs Offshore Models for 2026

CEO expectations for AI-driven growth remain high in 2026at the exact same time their labor forces are coming to grips with the more sober truth of existing AI performance. Gartner research discovers that just one in 50 AI investments deliver transformational worth, and only one in five provides any measurable return on financial investment.

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AI has the potential to cause major shifts in how we work with and who we work with. As AI significantly handles the less complex, more repeatable tasks being done by the labor force, business will require to work with skill who have broader, uniquely human abilities. We're seeing increasing demand for skills like problem-solving, adaptability, and partnership skills that spur organizational agility.