The L&D Priorities GCC Employers Should Be Preparing for in 2027

An estimate of 59 out of every 100 workers globally will need training by 2030.

OPINION PIECE

SkillUp MENA

11/3/20265 min read

Setting L&D priorities for 2027 should begin with the work an organization needs to perform reliably. Before approving another catalogue, GCC employers should identify the roles in which capability gaps could delay growth, weaken service or concentrate too much knowledge in too few people. That creates a more useful investment question: which employees need to become ready for which decisions, and by when?

The scale of the challenge is clear, even if its local shape varies. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 estimates that 59 out of every 100 workers globally will need training by 2030. This is a global projection based on employer expectations, not a GCC forecast or a prediction for 2027. It gives employers a reason to prepare deliberately rather than treating next year as another cycle of course delivery.

Align GCC workforce development with L&D priorities

An L&D strategy for the GCC needs a common language for performance and room for local conditions. Employers operating across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman should not assume that one pathway, timetable or assessment will suit every workforce. Sector, language, location and operating model can matter as much as the country label.

GCC L&D teams can start with a small number of critical roles. For each, specify the recurring decisions, the quality standard and the evidence that would establish readiness. A procurement specialist might need to evaluate an exception and justify a recommendation; a supervisor might need to diagnose an operational problem and coordinate an appropriate response. A skills label becomes useful when it describes work that someone can observe.

SkillUp MENA’s academy design and capability building services support this work through competency frameworks, skills gap analysis, job pathways and academy operating models. These services help GCC employers organize development around the requirements of current and future roles, with an assessment approach that makes progression clearer.

Before commissioning content, GCC L&D teams should agree on the conditions that trigger an update. A changed system, a new customer requirement or a revised operating procedure may alter what competent performance looks like. Give each pathway an owner and a review date, and ask that owner to check whether the assessment still reflects the job. This keeps the investment connected to current work as responsibilities evolve.

Make AI learning specific to responsibility

AI awareness provides a foundation, but an employee using a tool and a manager approving its output face different responsibilities. L&D teams should reflect those differences in the learning design. Teach employees how to question an output, check supporting information, recognize when a task exceeds their authority and follow organizational rules for handling information.

The NIST Generative AI Profile offers a voluntary resource for considering trustworthiness across AI use and evaluation. For GCC L&D teams, a practical implication is to build exercises around judgment and review, alongside tool operation. A good-looking answer should not be enough to pass an assessment. The learner should explain what was checked, what remains uncertain and when expert review is required.

Connect national talent development to real opportunities

National priorities provide context for L&D decisions across the GCC. Saudi Arabia’s Human Capability Development Program addresses preparation for future labour-market needs, while Oman Vision 2040 places education, learning and national capabilities within its People and Society pillar. These are distinct national frameworks, not a single regional training mandate.

GCC employers can translate that direction into transparent pathways from entry roles to specialist and leadership responsibilities. Define the work evidence required at each stage, then provide access to projects, mentoring and supervised assignments. A qualification may support progression, but it should sit alongside evidence relevant to the role. Criteria should be visible to employees and applied consistently.

Knowledge transfer needs an explicit place in L&D planning. Pair an experienced specialist with a developing colleague to examine a difficult decision, document the reasoning and test whether another colleague can use it. This captures more than a procedure: it preserves the judgment needed when conditions change.

Fund L&D application across GCC operations

An L&D budget is incomplete if it pays for delivery but leaves no time for practice or feedback. Before enrolling employees, managers should identify an appropriate application task, the support available and the point at which evidence will be reviewed. Operations should confirm that workload, permissions and access make the task possible.

For GCC managers, this requires manageable commitments. A short discussion before a pathway and a review of one work sample afterward may be more feasible than a separate reporting process. Where the employee has no opportunity to use the skill, record that constraint. Treating lack of opportunity as lack of motivation sends the improvement effort in the wrong direction.

SkillUp MENA’s learning and development solutions bring together custom learning journeys, instructor-led delivery, coaching and mentorship. GCC employers can use this combination to connect structured learning with guided practice and feedback, selecting onsite, virtual or blended formats around the needs of their teams.

For GCC employers, manager support can become a practical L&D agreement: identify one task, reserve time for an attempt and schedule a short feedback conversation. Ask the employee to explain the decision made and the evidence used. If the attempt reveals a process barrier, assign it to someone who can resolve it. If it reveals a skill gap, provide targeted practice and another opportunity to demonstrate progress.

Design L&D access around how people work

Across GCC operations, a common standard does not require an identical delivery format. Office employees, branch teams and shift workers may need different routes to the same capability. Offer preparation that works on the available device, schedule practice around operational demands and provide a reference employees can use at the point of need.

L&D localization should extend to terminology, scenarios and assessment. A translated question can still be misleading if it refers to a system or approval process the learner never uses. Test pathways with employees from the intended roles and language groups. Investigate differences in access and results before deciding whether the problem lies in the learner, the content or the working environment.

Measure L&D readiness before making claims about value

For each GCC program, agree a baseline and a small set of measures: who could participate, who demonstrated the skill, who applied it and what happened to the relevant work outcome. Define who judges the evidence and how consistently that judgment is made. Completion data can reveal progress through a program; it cannot establish workplace readiness by itself.

Business results require careful interpretation by L&D and operational leaders. Faster service may reflect learning, a redesigned process, new technology or a change in staffing. Document those influences and use a suitable comparison where feasible. Distinguish verified cash savings from employee time made available for other work. Clear limits make an investment case more useful to decision-makers.

GCC leadership teams should also agree on a review rhythm for L&D investment. A quarterly discussion can compare priority roles, emerging gaps and evidence from completed pathways. Keep successful elements that can be reused, revise activities that do not support application and retire resources that no longer match the work. Record the reason for each decision so the next planning cycle builds on evidence rather than repeating familiar programs.

Give the first quarter a clear test

For the first quarter of 2027, L&D leaders should choose one priority role and one capability linked to a business need. Assign an operational owner, establish the baseline and secure practice opportunities before launch. Review access, performance evidence and delivery costs with the business. Expand when the evidence supports it, and revise when it does not. This gives GCC employers a repeatable way to turn workforce development priorities into greater organisational readiness.

To turn these priorities into a practical GCC L&D plan for 2027, contact SkillUp MENA to discuss your capability gaps, priority roles and learning requirements, and explore a development approach suited to your organisation.