Soft Skills and its Importance in Today’s Job Market: Skill Lab

Soft skills can be defined as the character traits and attitude in a combination of people skills, emotional skills, social skills, intelligence and attributes. It is the skill that is desired by employers in their staff. It enables employees to sail their environment, work well with others, perform well and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills. In recent years, the importance of soft skills in the job market is increasing considerably as organisations search for additional value to their business. In terms of career, soft skills soften the edges and provide a competitive advantage to the ones who possess these skills over others. Skill Lab conducted a survey with 40 organisations in Nepal to understand the importance and relevance of soft skills in the current job market. This study also explored the possibility of future job interviews being conducted, virtually, average annual hiring, essential hard skills in different categories of organisations, and common mistakes made during job interviews. The study conducted by Skill Lab found that 72.5% of hiring leaders stated that soft skills are “essential” or “very important” element when making hiring decisions. What’s more, many employers stated that soft skills are more important than technical skills. According to survey, soft skills that were labeled as very important by the majority of the respondents are: work ethics (72.5%), teamwork (65%), communication (60%), and presence of attention to details (50%). This numbers indicate the growing importance of soft skills or social skills as mentioned in different sector job market including technical fields. It may be safe to say that in the present job market soft skills are essential to the point where it is no longer a choice but a necessary attribute.