According to this report, “two-thirds of the world’s population is falling behind in critical skills, including 90% of developing economies”. Companies see strong skill deficiencies and struggle to find the talent they need, and local markets no longer seem to be enough. Talent is considered as a global resource mainly thanks to technology. Technology has created more opportunities to find skilled talent no matter where it is and allow us to talk about “global skills”.
What does “global skills” mean?
Some define global skills as having to do with international specifically, cultural or linguistic knowledge. It’s true. Having “global skills”, to a certain extent, requires having an international experience. But “global skills” can mean so much more than that.
“Global skills” are nothing less than a requirement for all job seekers. Acquisition of global skills are not limited to those that have the means to go abroad, but it has the essence of those restless travellers. When someone spends time abroad, is not only learning about culture but learns to adapt and be flexible in new situations. One learns that best results come from listening before acting and communication goes beyond the spoken word. “The most useful lesson is that the new way to do something may not be better or worse, just different.”
Innovation, creativity, collaboration and adaptability, are the “global soft skills” demanded. But, as always, the combination of soft and hard skills is the right path to success.
But, what about the hard skills sought by recruiters everywhere globally?
As technology changes the world of work, the nature of daily tasks and the requirements sought by recruiters change too. While routine tasks are progressively carried out by robots, other required skills are increasingly demanded. LinkedIn has highlighted some of the most demanded global skills in 2019.
- User Experience Design
- Cloud Computing
- Analytical reasoning
- Artificial Intelligence
- People Management
The article highlights the necessity for hard skills and soft skills to be combined. Hard skills are concrete skills, specific abilities that can be taught, learned, measured and defined, such as software programs, data analytics and languages. Soft skills, on the other hand, relate more to interpersonal skills and include communication, flexibility, rigour, dynamism, team spirit or willingness to learn. Both are complementary and indispensable for innovation.
Megatrends brought about by technological advances, digital transformation, globalisation and demographics have made “global skills” a requirement for all job seekers, not only for those seeking an international aspect to their work.
