If they could, they probably wouldn't be in retail.
They can instead fall off the edge of the world like the dinosaurs...
Towards the center of the Disk, though, there are fewer and fewer people left who would do the basic jobs or learn to do civilization's pillar jobs such as hardware maintenance/creation. Specialists who can perform those trickle towards the rim where they get paid more. So the Center itself might fall off the Edge, first.
it will come down to their ability to learn new process, think critically, and practically innovate creatively...
That's what high grades should be about. Humans are naturally good at adapting. Then, civilizationally bereft of that through gradual funneling away from self-reliance.
people seem to put their faith in a Universal Basic Income system, but unless it is attached to work performance...
Yup, because wealth is not the money but the quality goods and services that money can buy and to have those, we need goods and service creators. A lot of those.
If a fresh and well ripe tomato from the garden is valuable, why is it so cheap? Because its good-looking but empty-on-the-inside competitor tomatoes are not only more profitable due to scale of low quality mas produced stuff, but even subsidized. Public funds draining by the powerful few twists the market a great deal.
Superficial demand for superficial skills.