As businesses recover from pandemic shocks and race to integrate generative AI, the skills employers prize are shifting fast. Employers want people who combine technical fluency with human strengths — problem-solving, creativity, emotional intelligence and the ability to work alongside AI. This article explains the skills likely to dominate 2026 hiring, why they matter, and what employers and jobseekers should do now.
Global research shows skills are rapidly evolving: employers expect a substantial share of core skills to change within the decade, driven by automation, AI, and new business models. Continuous reskilling and skills-based hiring are now central to workforce strategy. World Economic Forum Reports+1
- Technical and AI-adjacent skills — but not only coding
Demand for programming, data literacy, AI tool literacy and workflow automation skills continues to rise. More companies treat AI as a productivity multiplier: they hire people who can prompt, evaluate and govern AI outputs, integrate AI into workflows, and translate data into decisions. Practical AI literacy — knowing when and how to apply tools — will be as valuable as traditional software engineering for many roles. McKinsey & Company+1 - Adaptive cognitive skills: complex problem solving and learning agility
With technologies changing job tasks, employers increasingly value people who can learn quickly, reframe problems, and combine knowledge across disciplines. Reports highlight “learning agility” and adaptability as differentiators between growing and declining roles. Workers who can unlearn, relearn and synthesize will stay employable. World Economic Forum - Human-centered skills: communication, empathy and collaboration
As automation takes over routine tasks, roles that rely on human judgement, persuasion, coaching and conflict resolution grow in importance. Emotional intelligence, cross-cultural communication, and facilitation skills help teams collaborate in hybrid and distributed settings — a recurring priority in human capital research. Deloitte - Digital literacy and data fluency
Beyond specialists, employers want “data-aware” workers who can read dashboards, ask the right questions of analytics, and base simple decisions on data. This is driving firms to adopt skills-based hiring and internal learning pathways to close gaps. Economic Graph+1 - Domain depth + T-shaped profiles
The sweet spot is depth in a domain (e.g., healthcare, finance, supply chain) plus a breadth of complementary skills — communication, basic coding or analytics, and AI collaboration. T-shaped professionals can move between projects and apply tools effectively across contexts.
What this means for employers (action checklist)
• Shift to skills-based job design and hiring panels focused on demonstrable tasks. Economic Graph
• Invest in on-the-job learning, micro-courses and apprenticeship pathways to retain talent. LinkedIn Learning
• Define AI guardrails, upskilling plans and governance so tools augment rather than erode skills. McKinsey & Company
What this means for jobseekers (practical steps)
• Build AI fluency: practice with widely available tools, learn prompt engineering basics, and document when you used AI to improve outcomes. McKinsey & Company
• Become data-literate: take short courses in spreadsheets, basic statistics, and dashboard interpretation. LinkedIn Learning
• Demonstrate learning agility: show recent reskilling, project outcomes, and measurable impact in portfolios or on assessments.
Closing thought
The 2026 workplace prizes people who combine human judgment with technical fluency and a growth mindset. For platforms like Smartforce, the opportunity is to translate this demand into candidate assessments, upskilling pathways, and skills-based matching that help employers hire faster and workers move into resilient careers. Deploying multi-stage skills assessments and employer-backed microlearning will be a competitive advantage in the next wave of hiring. World Economic Forum Reports+1
Sources (selected): World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025; LinkedIn skills and workplace learning insights; McKinsey research on AI in the workplace; Deloitte Human Capital Trends. Deloitte+3World Economic Forum Reports+3LinkedIn+3
