New Pearson study identifies human skills as the “power skills” most in demand in world’s major job markets

LONDON – 30 November 2022: New research from Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, finds that despite new technologies transforming the world of work, the top five most in demand skills today are human skills, with the trend set to continue through at least 2026.

Using an analysis of more than 21 million job ads from the US, UK, Canada and Australia, Pearson’s Skills Outlook identifies today’s new ‘power skills’ – those capabilities now powering the world’s economy and individual careers. The analysis shows that while technical capabilities remain vitally important for many roles, employers highly prize human skills such as collaboration, communication and leadership.

Pearson’s Skills Outlook shows that job ads in 2022 were dominated by five human skills:

1. Communication
2. Customer Service
3. Leadership
4. Attention to Detail
5. Collaboration

Looking ahead to 2026, Pearson’s AI-based modelling suggests that the top five power skills that will be most in demand to meet economic needs are also human skills:

1. Collaboration
2. Customer Focus
3. Personal Learning & Mastery
4. Achievement Focus
5. Cultural and Social Intelligence

Mike Howells, President of Pearson Workforce Skills, said: “While technical skills are important for many jobs, people will need to retrain frequently to ensure they keep up with the pace of technology. Employers are now realising that human skills are the power skills that really help people stay relevant and adaptable in a changing world. Businesses need to act now to help employees upskill and employees need to adopt a mindset that helps them learn across their lifetime, as a strong foundation of human skills is essential for success for employers and employees both now and in the future.”

Although demand for technical skills is increasing, technology evolves so quickly that these capabilities often have a short shelf-life and can be unique to specific industries or jobs. People in tech roles need human skills to be agile and adaptable in their learning. The research findings provide guidance to employers on where they should focus their training and education programs.

In the first of a series of Skills Outlooks, looking at today’s Power Skills, Pearson used Faethm’s workforce AI and predictive analytics to look at census, workforce and recruitment data in four major economies – the US, UK, Australia and Canada - and model how job requirements are evolving as a result of technological change. With nearly 1,400 enterprise clients, Pearson has a strong foundation and unique expertise in the workforce skilling market.

Notes to Editors

For further information see:
https://plc.pearson.com/en-GB/insights/pearson-skills-outlook-powerskills

Methodology
Using its AI and predictive analytics platform, Faethm, Pearson assessed the current market for skills using job ad data and modelled the future market for skills using its Future Capability Framework:

2022 skills:
To identify the current in demand and trending skills, a total of 21.8M job ads from January to March 2022 were analysed, comprised of 17.7M US ads, 1.86M Canadian ads, 1.80M UK ads and 0.51M Australian ads. The job ads were analysed using Natural Language Processing models which are pre-trained on a language model containing 2.7 billion articles, followed by further training on labelled job ads and data on implicit skills. The final output of the models is a set of matched skills present in each job ad. In demand skills are identified from those appearing in the highest percentage of ads, while trending skills are those with the fastest climbing trajectory of mentions in ads.

2026 skills:
To model the future state of work, Faethm’s Future Capability Framework applies a prediction of automation and augmentation to work tasks to model changes to the future workforce and identify the work skills and abilities required in the future. The framework was developed by simulating the impact of emerging technologies on work tasks up to 15 years in the future, then identifying all attributes (skills, knowledge and personal behaviours) which will remain important in the future of work. The future capabilities were derived by grouping the future-essential work attributes into relevant human and work capabilities drawn from evidence-based research. Finally, to determine future capability maturity a standardized levelling of capability for all occupations was determined, from which was extrapolated the future development need for individual occupations. The level of maturity for each occupation, now and in the future, was then used in conjunction with the best available workforce data for the countries analysed to produce a whole country view.

Definitions of Power Skills listed

• Achievement Focus: The ability to take on responsibilities and challenges with little or no supervision, develop one’s own way of doing things, and depend on oneself to get things done.
• Attention to Detail: The ability to be precise and accurate in tasks, taking care to notice small details and ensuring that all aspects of a project are completed accurately
• Collaboration: The ability to develop constructive and cooperative working relationships with others.
• Communication: The ability to express thoughts and ideas clearly, and to listen to, understand, and respond to others’ ideas.
• Cultural and Social Intelligence: Have awareness and understanding of other’s reactions.
• Customer Focus: Actively look for ways to assist customers and clients.
• Customer Service: The provision of service to customers before, during, and after a purchase.
• Leadership: The ability of an individual, group or organisation to “lead”, influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organisations
• Personal Learning: The ability to acquire knowledge or skills through one’s study or experience.

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About Pearson
At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to add life to a lifetime of learning. We believe that every learning opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. That’s why our c.20,000 Pearson employees are committed to creating vibrant and enriching learning experiences designed for real-life impact. We are the world’s leading learning company, serving customers in nearly 200 countries with digital content, assessments, qualifications, and data. For us, learning isn’t just what we do. It’s who we are. Visit us at pearsonplc.com.