'There's No Such Thing As A Permanent Job Anymore'

'There are still plenty of jobs out there -- but not enough people with the right skills to fill them.'

The world isn't facing a job shortage. It's grappling with a skill crisis.

That's the blunt assessment from J P Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who has sounded the alarm on what he describes as a 'scary' global labour crisis -- not because there aren't enough workers but because too few of them have the right skills.

Speaking during the Business Roundtable’s CEO Workforce Forum, Dimon emphasised that the critical bottleneck for employers today isn't headcount -- it's expertise.

'We have a global shortage of skilled workers, not people,' he said, underscoring a widening gap between what industries require and what the labour force is equipped to deliver.

In-demand skills, rising gaps

According to Dimon, the highest demand continues to be for workers with practical, technical and analytical capabilities -- particularly in healthcare, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.

'You want to get a job? Learn to be a nurse. Learn to be a data scientist. Learn to be a cloud technician,' he advised, naming these as recession-proof skills with strong long-term demand.

While tech giants have laid off workers in droves over the past year, the broader hiring slowdown masks an underlying reality: demand remains robust for workers with specialised and up-to-date training. 'There are still plenty of jobs out there -- but not enough people with the right skills to fill them,' Dimon noted.

Economic implications

Dimon's remarks come amid a paradox in global labour markets: unemployment remains relatively low in many countries even as employers struggle to fill mission-critical roles.

This disconnect, Dimon argued, has the potential to stall economic growth and weaken productivity across sectors. From logistics and manufacturing to IT and healthcare, companies are under increasing pressure to hire -- but face mounting challenges finding candidates with the required skillsets.

'It's a major economic problem,' Dimon said. 'We are not educating or training people fast enough in the fields that matter. The world is going to fall behind if we don't fix this.'

Call for collaboration

To address this widening mismatch, Dimon called for a joint response from governments, educational institutions and the private sector. He emphasised the need to revamp training systems, encourage vocational and STEM education and close digital access gaps.

'We need to help people adapt, whether they're 18 or 48,' he said. 'It's not just about college degrees -- it's about real skills, usable today and tomorrow.'

J P Morgan itself has invested billions in workforce development initiatives globally, including programmes in community colleges, apprenticeships and partnerships with local governments aimed at building job-ready pipelines in under-resourced communities.

Beyond the numbers

Ultimately, Dimon's message is not just for policymakers or corporate leaders -- it's a wake-up call for individuals too. As automation, AI and evolving market dynamics reshape the world of work, staying employable means staying adaptable.

'There's no such thing as a permanent job anymore,' Dimon said. 'But there is such a thing as permanent learning.'