Will your skills be in demand in 2020? Ten skillsets employers want you to have

By James Newbury, 9th July, 2018

A survey of executives from over 350 employers across 9 industries in 15 of the world’s largest economies came up with these predictionsA survey of executives from over 350 employers across 9 industries in 15 of the world’s largest economies came up with these predictions

By 2020 employers will seek very different skill sets in the workplace than they do today and, in fact, more than a third of the skill sets of many occupations will have skills that are not thought of as being important today, according to a report released recently from the World Economic Forum.

A survey of executives from over 350 employers across 9 industries in 15 of the world’s largest economies came up with predictions as to how advancements in technology will encourage a shift and change in the skills that are required in the future.

Here are the top 10 skills that will be in demand by 2020:

Cognitive flexibility – the concept of being able to think about multiple ideas simultaneously will be of huge importance in 2020. According to the report, respondents stated that cognitive abilities will be very important. These include creativity, problem solving and logical reasoning.
Negotiation skills – these will be in particularly high demand in mathematical and computer jobs, including data analysis and software developers.
Service orientation skills – actively looking at methods and ways in which to help others will be crucial. These fall under the social skills umbrella. Strong social skills will be as important as robots and automation take over more jobs.
Judgement and decision making – this was ranked as the 8th most in-demand skill in 2015, but it will move up to 7th place by 2020.
Emotional intelligence – today’s robots still can’t read people the way we can, so emotional intelligence is another skill that will be in demand.
Coordinating with others – robots haven’t perfected this either, so the ability of being able to adjust actions in relation to others and to collaborate will be of great importance in 2020.
People management – this skill set will be particularly in demand in 2020, together with the ability to motivate people, develop staff and identify the best candidates for jobs.
Creativity – this was in 10th place in 2015 but will be one of the top 3 skills employers are seeking in 2020. Creative people will be required to come up with new ways of applying technology, products and services.
Creative thinking – using logic and reasoning to identify strengths and weaknesses is a skill that will be required even with greater automation.
Complex problem solving – people will still need the basic skill of being able to solve complicated problems. This skill was ranked the most in-demand in 2015. It will still be the most required skill in the workplace in 2020.