With skills needed for a job in Australia changing by a staggering 66% by 2030 due to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), 90% of companies in Australia say they plan to enhance their people’s skills and abilities this year.

Today, the top skills that hiring managers in Australia consider the most important in the era of AI are human-centric soft skills. The top five skills are problem-solving abilities (45%), communications skills (40%), critical thinking (31%), time management (25%) and listening skills (16%)

Adam Gregory, Senior Director, ANZ, LinkedIn Talent and Learning Solutions, said, “Investing in people’s growth is no longer a perk but a strategic imperative, considering that our workforce is the driving force behind companies’ success in an era being shaped by AI.

“In the past year, the narrative was dominated by technological advancements and the integration of AI into business workflows. Now we are witnessing a pronounced shift towards skills – both technical and soft skills – to thrive in the era of AI.

“Communication is currently the most in-demand soft skill in Australia, as AI tools allow professionals to focus on uniquely human tasks such as communication, building relationships and collaborating with others.”

Soft skills, alongside the ability to learn, becoming increasingly important

A massive 71% of Australian employers have observed substantial changes in the skills and qualifications they prioritise in job candidates due to the impact of AI and automation in their industries.

Companies are placing emphasis on candidates who possess not only AI expertise, but also soft skills and a capacity for learning.

According to LinkedIn’s latest Workplace Learning Report, 95% of Learning & Development (L&D) professionals in ANZ believe that human skills are increasingly becoming the most competitive in our economy.

In particular, ‘communication’ has topped LinkedIn’s most in-demand soft skills list across all countries in APAC, including Australia. This is not surprising in a new world of work where AI tools are freeing up time for professionals to excel in jobs only people can do, like build relationships and collaborate with others.

In addition, 35% of Australian hiring managers consider an individual’s potential for growth and ability to learn as the most important factor when evaluating internal and external candidates.

Attracting and retaining top talent through internal mobility

LinkedIn’s recent survey of Australian hiring managers revealed that internal mobility is becoming increasingly important in attracting and retaining top talent within organisations, with 39% of leaders identifying career progression opportunities as their key priority this year.

33% of hiring managers see career growth opportunities as key to retaining top talent, along with competitive salary and benefits (46%). In addition, 45% of Australian employers believe that highlighting opportunities for career advancement and increasing internal mobility are the top two ways to attract talent.

To assist companies in their pivot towards a skills-centric approach, LinkedIn has introduced innovative AI-powered experiences, featuring:

• Tools such as Recruiter 2024, LinkedIn’s AI-assisted recruiting experience, enables hirers to quickly access high-quality candidate recommendations by using natural language search prompts and rich data from millions of professionals and companies, ensuring they are able to shortlist talent based on skills they need. These features will ramp to all Australian customers from the end of February.
• To empower companies to build the skills they need for the next decade of work, we’ve launched AI-powered coaching in LinkedIn Learning – a chatbot experience that offers real-time advice and tailored content recommendations all personalised for learners based on their job title, career goal, and skills they follow. We’ve also been focused on expanding our in-demand skill library, including AI courses that have seen a 5X uptick in learners.
• In early March, we will be launching new career development and internal mobility features within LinkedIn Learning to help guide employees to critical skills, develop skills that matter to grow, and connect to the best-fit opportunity at their organisation.

Scott Marshall, Head of Organisational Capability at Woodside Energy, said: “Supporting the development of our people both technically and in leadership capabilities is front and centre for Woodside. Recognizing the different ways in which people learn, the future skills required and ensuring a blend of methods to support that learning is critical.

“Our LinkedIn user data shows that our people are engaging across leadership capabilities, technical skills and in new technology capabilities such as AI. We are seeing a shift towards AI learning within the LinkedIn platform of 60% of learned content in the last six months alone. This demonstrates the importance to our people and eagerness to upskill.

“We also have 500 people who have actively engaged the LinkedIn AI to create a specific career goal for their own development objectives.”