Most in-demand skills for 2020: IT cloud and blockchain skills in supply chains, healthcare, shipping lead in HR demand

Creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence emerged as the top five soft-skills highly demanded by employers in a new report from LinkedIn.

Despite this, technological advances in the past two decades have transformed not only the way we work but also the most demanded skills. According to a report by LinkedIn, Blockchain and cloud computing are the two most demanded hard skills for 2020. The social media giant assessed the highly demanded skills relative to supply based on the rate at which people with specific skills listed on their LinkedIn profiles were hired.

Even though Blockchain is commonly associated with Bitcoin, this technology can be used in various areas across organizations for decentralization, security, immutability, and transparency. Blockchain technology is used for supply chains, healthcare, shipping, entertainment, gaming, and many other sectors.

According to LinkedIn, “blockchain has emerged from the once shadowy world of cryptocurrency to become a business solution in search of problems.”

This implies that the demand for people with the skills to harness the capabilities of blockchain is driven by the increasing and broadening tech-needs within businesses globally. Currently, the importance of adopting blockchain into day-to-day operations is no longer restricted to financial organizations and service providers but can be put to use in most companies by “hiring people who have background and expertise in using the technology.” said LinkedIn.

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IT-related skills

The importance of technology in the current highly competitive marketplace is evidenced by the dominance of IT-related skills in the top 10 most in-demand hard skills. In second place is cloud computing skills driven by the demand for easy and fast conversion of information between firms. Also, cloud computing offers portability convenience by eliminating the dependencies that tied information technology to physical information systems. With the elimination of the dependency, companies gain additional through new business models such as Information as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Analytical reasoning skills

In third place is analytical reasoning skills favored by employers who are increasingly seeking to hire people who can break down complex problems into smaller parts to find solutions. The demand for new hires with analytical reasoning can be attributed to the complexities of doing business in a technologically advanced and globalized environment. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was fourth in line with the growing importance of technology for many businesses.

Additionally, the ever-increasing need for companies to offer consumers value and VIP treatment and experience for them to competitive edge contributed to the demand for professionals with a background in User Experience (UX) design coming in as the fifth most in-demand hard skills. Rounding off the ten most demanded skills are “business analysis, affiliate marketing and sales, scientific computing, and video production,” according to the LinkedIn report.

In the digital age, the success or failure of business relies on how quickly they can adopt emerging technologies. The most viable route is for recruiters, HR, and top management to proactively seek and hire new employees with the skills to enable their organizations to exploit these technologies within a short span.

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