A few weeks ago, the World Economic Forum released their two-yearly report on the Future of Jobs, following a survey of over 1,000 employers and a review of industry and macroeconomic trends. It includes what employers report are the skills that they most need today, and predict they will need in 2030. With the current rapid transformation in workplaces, driven by technological advancements, shifting economic conditions, and evolving workforce expectations, the results are unsurprising: employers want analytical thinking, resilience, leadership, creativity, motivation, and technological literacy (World Economic Forum, 2025).
But there's a side to this story that might be less obvious: these in-demand skills align remarkably well with the exceptional strengths of many neurodivergent individuals. Let me say that again - the talents most needed in workplaces between 2025 and 2030 align strongly with the talents of the 15-20% of people who think, process, and feel the world in different ways than the typical person - including individuals with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and other cognitive differences (Austin & Pisano, 2017; Dunne, 2024).
Extract from The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025:
Neurodiversity is the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways. There is no one right way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not deficits (Praslova, 2024). Progress in neuroscience and psychiatry means that we now understand much more about how different brains are wired and how this variation contributes to a rich diversity of cognitive, social, and physical abilities. While the traditional 'medical model' focused on the challenging aspects of neurodivergence (fix-the-person-thinking), the 'social model' and neurodiversity movement highlight the unique talents these thinking styles offer, in the right conditions (optimise-the-environment-thinking).
Whilst everyone is different, research shows that neurodivergent individuals commonly bring strengths in areas that align directly with the evolving demands of the modern workforce. For example:
Analytical Thinking & Pattern Recognition – Autistic individuals often excel in logical reasoning, pattern recognition, and detail-oriented work. These skills are highly valuable in data analytics, cybersecurity, and quality assurance roles (Austin & Pisano, 2017).
Creativity & Innovation – ADHD and dyslexic individuals tend to think divergently, generating novel ideas and approaches to complex problem-solving (Dunne, 2024).
Resilience & Adaptability – Many neurodivergent people have developed strong coping mechanisms and adaptability due to navigating environments not designed for them (Smith & Kirby, 2021). This resilience aligns with employers' growing emphasis on adaptability in an uncertain economy.
Hyperfocus & Deep Work – People with ADHD and autism often have the ability to hyperfocus on areas of interest, leading to exceptional productivity, such as in research, engineering, and software development roles (Praslova, 2024).
These strengths align with what businesses need to thrive in an AI-driven, rapidly changing landscape. By leveraging neurodivergent talent, companies can lift innovation, productivity, and problem-solving capabilities, making them more competitive in the future of work.
While this might sound like a positive, there's a problem: most organisational processes, environments, and team dynamics are designed for the 80% - the neurotypical. These structures prioritise uniformity to create productivity and efficiency, reflecting the industrial and scientific management approaches that served businesses well in the 20th century, but which are less relevant in the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world of 2025.
Common organisational processes, environments, cultures, and ways of working mean that neurodivergent professionals often face significant barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential, despite their strengths. These include:
Lack of accommodations for different work styles
Limited awareness and acceptance of their differences
Limited training for managers on neuroinclusive ways of working
Social norms and communication challenges
Hiring and promotion biases and rigid processes
Highly sensory office spaces
Organisations that fail to address these barriers risk losing out on a valuable talent pool capable of driving competitive advantage in a digital, AI-driven economy (Dunne, 2024).
Modern inclusive leadership is moving in the right direction, with a greater focus on employee engagement and wellbeing, and adapting management approaches for different individuals in the team. Many leaders will already be looking to build diverse teams (Rock & Grant, 2016) and create a culture of psychological safety (Edmondson, 2019) to improve performance.
To harness the full potential of neurodivergent talent, we need to help organisational leaders, managers, and colleagues to apply some of these principles with a neurodiversity lens. Key neuroinclusion strategies include:
Culture: Provide workplace neurodiversity training for employees to raise awareness, remove stigma, and encourage acceptance of differences, which in turn will foster a culture of psychological safety.
Ways of working: Train people leaders in neuroinclusive ways of working, with a focus on strengths-based leadership approaches and accommodation of different communication preferences. Implement unconscious bias training.
Flexibility: Implement flexible work policies, including remote/hybrid options.
Support: Provide support for neurodivergent employees to help them see their strengths, develop self-management strategies, realise and communicate their needs, e.g. through employee resource groups and specialist coaching.
Needs: Develop a policy, system, and culture that provides for individual employee 'accommodations' - i.e. the (often low or no cost) things that an individual needs to be their best in their role, e.g. voice-to-text software.
Office spaces: Create less sensory workplaces, with zones for different types of working, quiet rooms, and flexible lighting.
Hiring process: Rethink recruitment practices, for example using skill-based assessments instead of standard interviews. Hire for 'Culture-Add', not 'Culture-Fit'.
Performance process: Redesign performance and promotion practices to account for those with 'spikey profiles', i.e. exceptional skills in some competency areas with challenges in others.
As industries continue to evolve in response to AI, automation, and shifting economic demands, the unique talents of many neurodivergent people align strongly with the skills that employers need most. Companies that actively invest in creating neuroinclusive workplaces, policies, practices, and cultures stand to unlock the individual potential of the 20% of people who are neurodivergent, and likely part of their workforce today. In addition, they will build innovative, adaptive, and high-performing teams, and increase engagement and psychological safety for all employees (Dunne, 2024).
Austin, R. D., & Pisano, G. P. (2017). Neurodiversity is a competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2018). Neurodiversity at work.
Deloitte (2022). A rising tide lifts all boats: Creating a better work environment for all by embracing neurodiversity. Deloitte Insights.
Dunne, M. (2024). The Neurodiversity Edge: The Essential Guide to Embracing Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Differences For Any Organization. Wiley.
Edmondson, A. C. (2019). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. Wiley.
Gallup. (2009). Strengths-based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow. Gallup Press.
Praslova, L. (2024). The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Rock, D., & Grant, H. (2016). Why diverse teams are smarter. Harvard Business Review.
Smith, A., & Kirby, A. (2021). Neurodiversity at work: Drive innovation, performance and productivity with a neurodiverse workforce. Kogan Page
World Economic Forum. (2025). Future of Jobs Report 2025.
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Our services include:
Courses - Interactive and engaging programmes for neurodivergent individuals, people leaders, HR and execs.
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