LinkedIn’s Skills on the Rise 2025 report reveals a significant trend: a majority (7 of the top 10) of the most in-demand skills are ‘soft’ skills. This reflects a changing workplace where, while technological advancements automate many technical tasks, the uniquely human abilities to leverage and monetize those advancements are becoming increasingly vital.
Here’s the top 10:
- AI literacy
- Conflict mitigation
- Adaptability
- Process Optimization
- Innovative thinking
- Public speaking
- Solution-based selling
- Customer engagement and support
- Stakeholder management
- LLM Development and application
While businesses clamor for these attributes, a deeper look reveals a systemic failure to nurture and leverage them, contributing to a crippling skills deficit. This isn’t just a hiring problem; it’s a fundamental flaw in how we design and operate our businesses.
The Illusion of Upskilling
The illusion of upskilling as a panacea for the skills deficit is problematic. Many employees already possess the desired skills, but they are hindered from using them effectively due to outdated operating systems and counterproductive corporate cultures. In short, they lack both the motivation and the opportunity to use the skills they have.
Let’s dive in to a few examples.
Conflict Mitigation
Unsustainable workloads, poorly designed jobs, and outdated operating systems create a breeding ground for conflict. According to the CPP Global Human Capital Report,
a staggering 85% of employees experience workplace conflict, with 29% dealing with it almost constantly.
This statistic underscores the immense strain placed on employees, diverting valuable energy from productive tasks and stifling collaborative potential. One can’t help but ask: Do we really need more people with conflict resolution skills, or should we be focusing on reducing and eliminating the causes of conflict instead?
Adaptability
Rigid return-to-office (RTO) mandates, often framed as essential for collaboration, reveal a profound disconnect from the realities of modern work. These mandates, coupled with the continued infantilization of employees, demonstrate a lack of trust and a resistance to adapt to the evolving demands of knowledge-based economies. Stanford University research indicates that
remote work can increase productivity by up to 13%,
highlighting the gap between corporate policy and actual performance. Adaptability requires not only employees to be adaptable, but a work environment that promotes, enables, and embeds adaptability into operational and cultural models as well.
Innovative Thinking
Innovation thrives in environments that foster autonomy, flexibility, and psychological safety. This is underscored by Google’s Project Aristotle, which revealed that
psychological safety – the feeling of being able to take risks without fear 1 of reprisal – was the most critical factor in high-performing, innovative teams.
Even the most innovative employees will be stifled in a rigid working environment. When employees feel micromanaged and distrusted, their creative potential is suppressed.
Businesses must encourage experimentation, provide resources for innovation, and create the time and space for brainstorming and collaboration. Simply hoping that innovative thinkers can overcome these internal limitations is especially ill-advised in a business landscape where rapid innovation is the key to survival.
Customer Engagement and Support
An emphasis on immediate returns fuels a culture of overwork, disengagement, and compromised wellbeing. Gallup reveals that
76% of employees experience burnout at least sometimes,
a direct consequence of unrealistic expectations, inadequate support, and a system that prioritizes output over human capital. This neglect of employee health and wellbeing directly impacts customer satisfaction and loyalty, as disengaged and exhausted employees are less likely to provide exceptional service. Conversely, Gallup found that
companies with high employee engagement levels report 89% higher customer satisfaction.
To improve customer engagement, it’s certainly helpful to train employees on the desired customer experience, but businesses must also prioritize employee wellbeing and engagement. Without this, efforts to optimize the customer experience through upskilling will largely be futile.
A Systemic Shift Required
We can’t simply hire or train our way out of this crisis. We must fundamentally rethink how we design work and manage our organisations. This requires a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to conflict, stifle innovation, and undermine customer care. We need to address the systemic issues that prevent employees from being adaptable and recognize that overwork and inefficient systems drain employee energy, leaving little room for skills development and behavioral refinement.