A couple of years ago you may have seen me introduce our Skills Pyramid framework, it's what we've been working with to support thousands of young people, educators, career leads and employers in understanding what actually makes someone "work ready."
But frameworks evolve, and language shifts, and what made sense in 2024 needs updating for 2026.
So we're evolving the Skills Pyramid into something clearer: the Work-Ready Skills Stack.
It's the same foundations, but with better language, and more aligned with where work is actually heading.
What's changed (and what hasn't)
The core hasn't changed, what makes someone ready for work isn't about knowing specific software or having mastered one particular technical skill. It's about building foundational layers that let them grow, adapt, and stay valuable, no matter what shifts next.
What has changed is how we are talking about it.
We're moving away from "pyramid" language (which implies you finish one level and move on) to "stack" language (which better reflects how these layers build on each other and keep developing throughout your career).
And we're being more explicit and intentional about what those layers actually are:
Personal Qualities → Soft Skills → Digital Literacy → AI Literacy → Green Literacy → Job-Specific Skills
Why this order matters
I've had employers say to me: "We can train someone on our systems (or tech) in a week. We can't teach resilience or communication in months!"... “I’m not asking for perfection. I’m asking for effort.”... “We can’t keep holding hands through every challenge.”... "They've got a degree and can not write an email"... “They’ve grown up online but don’t know how to communicate in real life"... “They’ve got potential. But crumble the minute something goes wrong.” - and on and on and on.
So what I'm hearing is, the technical stuff - that's trainable. But if someone doesn't have the foundations, the technical job training won't stick. They'll struggle when things get hard, they male silly mistakes that are avoidable, they'll miss feedback cues, fail to problem solve, buckle under pressure, they won't know when to ask for help or how to work with a team.
Personal Qualities: The foundation everything sits on
This is where it starts. Not with Excel skills or coding or tool wielding. With the qualities that help someone function in any workplace.
Soft Skills: How you work with others
These aren't soft, they're foundational. Without them, everything else is harder. Once someone has the personal qualities, they can build the interpersonal skills that make them effective in teams: These aren't optional extra, they're essential, and they build on the personal qualities beneath them.
Digital Literacy: Confidence and safety in a digital world
This isn't about knowing every tool. It's about being confident and competent in digital environments, and what it means to: Navigate platforms, create and edit documents, presentations, spreadsheets, organising files and information digitally, evaluating online sources, understanding digital security basics.
Most young people are digital natives, but that doesn't mean they're digitally literate. There's a gap between using TikTok and knowing how to format a professional email, spot a phishing attempt, or collaborate on a project planning platform.
AI Literacy: Critical thinking in an AI world
This is new to the stack, and it's essential, because AI isn't going away. Young people need to know:
- When to use AI tools (and when not to)
- How to prompt effectively
- How to fact-check AI outputs
- When AI is wrong (and why)
- How to use AI to enhance work, not replace thinking
AI literacy sits inside work readiness because there's an expectation that young people can use these tools already. But they also expect them to use them well. That means critical thinking, not blind trust.
Green Literacy: Understanding sustainability in work
Another new addition. The green economy is growing fast, and green considerations are becoming ever more present in workplaces, young people need basic green literacy:
- Understanding sustainability in their sector
- Recognising green skills and opportunities
- Making environmentally informed decisions
- Understanding the business case for green practices
This is not about working in "green jobs," but most jobs will have a green dimension, like AI, this layer ensures young people aren't left behind.
Job-Specific Skills: Last, not first
Only now, with all those foundations in place, do we get to job-specific skills. The Excel formulas. The coding languages. The sector knowledge.
These matter, of course they do. But they're trainable and they change fast, what's in demand now might not be in demand in three years.
But the foundations last and they travel with the learner.
What this means in practice
For educators and careers leads, this isn't about adding more content. A lot of the time, these skills are already being built in your classrooms, the emphasis is to name them and make them visible.
"Nice work sticking with that problem. That's resilience. Employers need that."
"You just fact-checked that AI answer. That's AI literacy and critical thinking. Super valuable skills."
When you name it, young people start to see it. When they see it, they can build on it.
🔗 I give more suggestions and free resources in our weekly Newlsetter
For employers, this is a reminder that the strongest early-career hires aren't always the ones with the most technical skills on their CV. They're the ones with strong foundations who can learn quickly, adapt under pressure, and work well with others.
For young people, this is permission to focus on the stuff that actually makes you employable. Not just what you know, but how you think, how you work, and how you grow.
Why we built Skill Bursts around this
This is exactly why we created Skill Bursts. Short, gamified microlessons that help young people build these foundational layers deliberately. Not abstract theory, but real scenarios and immediate feedback.
Five minutes a day, building the skills that last.
🚀 We're launching the next controlled pilot our AI Literacy Skill Bursts next week with a small group of educators and career leads. If you're interested in being part of it, drop me a message.
More here: Skill Bursts | The Future of Work-Ready Education
The shift we need to make
For too long, we've asked young people to be "work ready" without being clear about what that actually means. Or worse, we've expected them to show up with skills we never really helped them build.
The Work-Ready Skills Stack makes it clear. These are the foundations, this is the order, this is what actually prepares someone for work in a world that won't stop changing.
Let's build from the ground up.
Gemma Hallett | Future Skills Architect | Founder of miFuture Former teacher.
Committed to closing the gap between education and the future of work.
🚀 Building the future of work readiness, one Skill Burst at a time.
#QualitiesOverQuals #FutureOfWork #WorkReadiness #PreSkilling #SkillsEconomy #AILiteracy #GreenLiteracy #FutureSkills #NextGenCareers #SkillBursts
