Cornerstone OnDemand Inc., a leader in workforce agility solutions, has announced the release of its Global State of the Skills Economy Report, providing a comprehensive overview of skills demand on the rise, an analysis from the past five years, and indicators for future trends and demand forecasting. The report highlights that artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and generative AI job postings are on the rise, with AI and ML job postings increasing by 65% since 2019 and GenAI-related job postings seeing a 411% surge.
However, the demand for human skills, or soft skills, such as leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence, consistently exceeds the need for digital skills across all regions—globally, human skills are twice as in demand as digital skills.
Additional insights from the report include the following.
- Augmented reality and virtual reality have seen a 154% increase in job postings over the past five years. This suggests that AR and VR are on the brink of broader adoption as industries explore applications that extend beyond entertainment and focus on training simulations, remote collaboration, and customer experience.
- India leads with 4.1% of its job postings focused on AI and ML. This reflects the country’s growing role in the global AI landscape. Germany and Japan follow with 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively.
- Demand for GenAI skills is not a technology industry story. Although GenAI adoption is often concentrated in industries like software development and IT consulting, there is a rising demand in financial services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and banking.
- Human skills—or soft skills—continue to outpace digital skills. In North America, human skills are more than twice as in demand. In Europe, this demand grows to nearly three times as much as digital skills. Top human skills include communication, interpersonal collaboration, and problem-solving.
- Demand for remote and flexible work has seen a 39% increase. Countries like Australia (22.8%) and Germany (21%) are leading with their job postings looking for remote or flexible workers, followed by New Zealand (20.3%), the U.K. (18.8%), the U.S. (15%), Spain (11.6%), Japan (9.7%), and India (6.3%). France (4.9%) and Italy (1.4%) ranked among the lowest.
“Keeping a close watch on changing skills and workplace trends in real-time across the market is essential for forecasting and staying competitive,” says Mike Bollinger, global vice president of strategic initiatives at Cornerstone. “This report not only reveals the workforce readiness gap, that skills are evolving faster than organizations and individuals can keep pace with, limiting innovation and adaptability, but also emphasizes the importance of retaining critical human or soft skills within your organization.”
