On LinkedIn's 15 Workplace Skills List

Forbes

23-03-2025

I look forward to LinkedIn's emails. Well, maybe not all of them, as their numbers are continuously on the rise – with jobs for which I am deemed a good fit, despite the fact that I haven't been a job seeker in 28 years – but there are some real gems in there.
Such was the case last week when a LinkedIn News email landed in my – and surely, many millions of other – inboxes. It carried this headline: '15 skills companies want right now' and then went on to lead with this statement: '70% of the skills you use today will change by 2030. Here are the emerging ones.' A couple of clicks later – my, how our reading habits have changed! – and the list began, including thoughtful commentary on each, It's bulletin board-worthy stuff, for sure. Here's LinkedIn's list, minus their commentary. (My commentary, you can be sure, will follow.)
(1) AI Literacy, (2) Conflict Mitigation, (3) Adaptability, (4) Process Optimization, (5) Innovative Thinking, (6) Public Speaking, (7) Solution-Based Selling, (8) Customer Engagement & Support, (9) Stakeholder Management, (10) Large Language Model (LLM) Development & Application, (11) Budget & Resource Management, (12) Go-To-Market Strategy, (13) Regulatory Compliance, (14) Growth Strategy, (15) Risk Assessment.
(A) It's forward-looking, although some of this is not new and never will be. (B) It's long, wide, and deep, although in need of an addition or two. (C) It's most likely based on good data, given LinkedIn's reach into data from their 1.15 billion worldwide users. Good surveys happen that way. (D) Their comments transcend data analysis and cross over into interpretation. In other words: What does this mean? That's the difference between left-brain logic and right-brain creativity.
Albert Einstein used to say, 'Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.' The above list, as it appears, is oversimplified, in my view. Fourteen of the fifteen 'skills' as listed are actually more complex than that. They are skill sets, experiential career levels, sensibilities, core strengths, or characteristics. They are complex, robust, and interdependent. They develop in tandem, not alone, and they become multi-, not unidimensional.
Public Speaking may seem simple enough, but is really made up of verbal communication, nonverbal communication, effective writing, appropriate use of informative or persuasive or special occasion techniques, and PowerPoint (if you take it that far).
That said, I remind you that I see only one that is, indeed, a stand-alone skill. If you think you know which, I'd be interested in your thoughts.
For decades going back as far as I can research (at least to the 1950s), the two skills executives and recruiters stated they valued more than all others were communication and ability to work well within a team. In other words, they were saying, they could get all the hard-skill people they needed; what kept them up at night was the inability of most people to talk to and work with each other. The graduate-level communication and leadership course I taught for 15 years at Fairleigh Dickinson University was predicated on that reality. That's simple.
Simplify when you can, don't when you shouldn't, and know the difference.