You'll have an unfair advantage with these 5 skills

Pearson, a company that helps people learn and gives training courses, looked at more than 21 million job ads around the world. It found five "power skills" that are now driving the economy of the world and people's careers.

Skills Outlook by Pearson says that the skills are not technical. Instead, the skills that are most in demand are communication, putting the customer first, leadership, paying attention to details, and working with others.

Pearson's AI modeling tool also shows that some of these skills are likely to be in demand in 2026. The results show that collaboration and putting the customer first will continue to be the most sought-after skills. But there are also soft skills like personal learning, a focus on getting things done, and cultural and social intelligence that go along with these.

"Investments need to be made quickly because both employers and employees need a strong base of human skills to be successful. Dr. Richard George, Pearson's vice president for data science in workforce skills, said, "As more and more new technologies are used, non-technical skills like the ability to learn and cultural and social intelligence are becoming more and more important."

The Pearson study shows that it will be hard to find employees with these five skills because demand will only keep going up.

The possibility of a recession in places like the U.S. and Australia is likely to have an effect on Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Studies show that this will make things harder for businesses and workers in the area.

In this uncertain time for the economy, businesses will look for employees who can stay current and adaptable, and they will put a high value on these soft skills. Those who don't learn new skills will be left behind by those who are better prepared and more flexible. This will make the job market a place where only the strongest survive and do well.

Pearson suggested that companies stop looking for the right person and instead teach these skills to the people they already have. A study by the World Economic Forum showed that by 2030, more than a billion people around the world will need to update their skills to stay relevant in their field and meet the changing needs of the workforce.

"Organizations that understand this and put money into helping employees build transferable and flexible skills will do well in our changing world," said George.