EI Skills Needed, Says 2016 World Economic Forum Report “The Future of Jobs”

In January 2016, the World Economic Forum announced the publication of a report, “The Future of Jobs,” with conclusions based on a 2015 survey of chief human resource officers, chief strategy officers, and other senior talent and strategy executives from 350 of the world’s largest companies in 15 countries.

Among the findings, revealing a demand for emotionally intelligent workers:

• In 2020, the core skillsets in highest demand will be complex problem-solving skills and social skills, including emotional intelligence (page 22). More than one-third (36 percent) of jobs across all industries are expected to require complex problem-solving as one of their core skills, and 19 percent will demand social skills.

• For the financial services sector, 23 percent of jobs will require social skills in 2020.

• “Overall, social skills—such as persuasion, emotional intelligence and teaching others—will be in higher demand across industries than narrow technical skills, such as programming or equipment operation and control,” the report says. “In essence, technical skills will need to be supplemented with strong social and collaboration skills.”

• A “Top 10 Skills” infographic published with the report reveals that emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility are two jobs skills that CHROs and CSOs believe will be in demand in 2020 that weren’t among the top 10 in 2015.

• The report defines EI as “being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.”