Soft skills and AI proficiency are crucial for work

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our work processes, adopting a skills-first mindset and gaining soft skills are more crucial than ever before, said Ruchee Anand, India country head for talent & learning solutions at LinkedIn, on the sidelines of launching the Microsoft-LinkedIn 2024 work trends index. “When organisations look at hiring people, they are now focusing more on the skills that the candidate has over pedigree. We have seen a 142-fold increase in LinkedIn members that have added AI skills like Copilot and ChatGPT.”

Aside from showcasing your tech skills prominently, Ruchee said that techies worrying about their prospects in the era of AI should develop soft skills that will help them excel at work -like communication, collaboration, and leadership qualities.

“Your jobs are changing even when you’re not changing your job. The way a job actually works has evolved because the tasks and skills that are required to be successful in any job have changed.”

This phenomenon, she said, isn’t new either. “Between 2015 and now, we have seen skills that are required to be successful in a particular job have shifted by about 30% in India. Globally it was 24%. And the skills that are required to be successful from now till about 2030 are going to shift by 68%.”

Irina Ghose, MD for Microsoft India & South Asia, said that according to their new report, 75% of Indian leaders say they wouldn’t even hire someone without AI skills, while 80% of them say they would rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them. “Basically, AI skills trump experience.”

And that, Irina said, is because irrespective of the function, every employee stands to gain from AI. “Whether in creative roles, coding, data analysis, or departments like finance, marketing, or legal, AI tools set a new baseline.”