As ChatGPT raises automated workforce concerns and layoffs plague the tech industry, workers should focus on developing needed skills.
Key Details
- The job market is changing faster than many workers can keep up with it. New jobs are emerging, and old ones are fading quickly.
- Even agile workers will have difficulty adapting to the changing world. The secret to succeeding in the new workforce will be the employee’s ability to upskill.
- The current skills gap is so significant that it prevents many companies from further modernizing their operations.
- Around 44% of workers need to update their current skill set, Fortune estimates.
Why it’s news
Staying relevant in the workforce is essential for workers who do not want to be left behind—and key for companies who need to retain the right skill sets so the enterprise can grow. Fortunately, with a little work, many employees can upskill to fill in for needed abilities in the workplace.
The current demand for specific skills is beyond the supply available, according to LinkedIn CEO Dan Shapero. The labor market, he says, is starting to balance out but remains tight. Last year was the tightest labor market Shapero has seen in 15 years.
Employees who want to stand out should start developing these skills:
- Creative thinking
- Analytical thinking
- Technological literacy
- Curiosity and lifelong learning
- Resilience, flexibility, and agility
- Systems thinking
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data
- Motivation and self-awareness
- Talent management
- Service orientation and customer service
Several of these skills emphasize the growing prominence of AI in the workplace. Technological skills in the workplace will become increasingly more important over the next five years. In that time, nearly a quarter of all jobs will look drastically different, Fortune reports.
The most valuable skills for employers are likely to be soft skills, like creative thinking, lifelong learning, and motivation. More employers are looking for workers who have strong cognitive skills.
In this search for workers with particular skill sets, some industries are moving away from degree requirements and hiring based on skills instead. However, it can be difficult for new workers to advertise soft skills on a resume.
For now, skilled workers generally have the advantage when negotiating jobs or looking for new positions, and Shapero thinks it is here to stay.
“Employers are still having difficulty finding the people they need, even in the current labor market,” he says. “[That’s] because the long-term trend toward your technical skills is just undeniable, and we can’t keep up with it.”
