Our Chief People Officer Gillian talks about how hiring managers need to look at soft skills to ensure workforces are happy, motivated and thriving with the ever-changing landscape of work in 2025.
2024 saw a static job market, with hundreds of people applying for roles and companies not hiring nearly enough to keep up with the demand. In fact, just 51% of workers worldwide say it's a good time to find a job — the lowest percentage since 2021.
The ongoing cost of living crisis in a static job market means people are prioritizing job security over risking a job change in an insecure market. In the US, Gallup have reported how employees are struggling to make the leap into a new organization even if they’re unhappy in their current role. They’ve named it: ‘The Great Detachment.'
But what we don’t want is people staying in roles they feel they’ve outgrown, or people who aren’t motivated to reach their full potential. This could lead to a workforce full of quiet quitters. To turn this challenge into an opportunity, HR teams and managers need to be prepared to look at role mobility, which can be tricky if you don’t know where to start. Let’s look at an example. If you’re looking to move someone from a finance role to the HR team, one glance at their CV could bring up immediate red flags. They may not have the right qualifications, experience in the role, or expertise. On the other hand, they could have less tangible skills which are a great fit for the role, and would keep them happy within the company. Is it a risk that's worth taking?
Hiring managers can often lack flexibility on what is the perfect match for a role, and making that initial jump can be scary. After all, they need to be willing to invest in the initial development of their employees to get them up to speed, and there is frequently the temptation of a proven candidate sitting right in front of them. But skills like those needed by our would-be HR team member can be learned. What’s harder to teach is someone’s ability to empathize with a team, their knack for problem solving, or their level of creativity. These are soft skills that hit hard. They come naturally to a person, are transferable, and might not be immediately obvious on a CV - they’re gold dust.
The rise of AI is making the need to recruit for soft skills more clear than ever. Who knows what it’ll be able to do in five, ten, fifteen years’ time? Automating processes, supporting with administrative tasks, compiling data… the list goes on.
As the future of work evolves and we all start to use AI in our daily working lives, what we look for in an employee will need to change. If the expertise and skills that were once key to a job role will be AI-assisted, it is those who have the soft skills that can fill in the gaps who will have the edge. Because one thing AI will never be is human - it’ll never have the emotional intelligence that humans have to offer.
With all of this in mind, in 2025 it is more important than ever to weave soft skills into the recruitment and personal development processes already in place within organizations. It’s vital to predicting job success, role suitability, and identifying areas for development.
At Thomas, we’ll be using soft skills to re-look at the gaps within our organization and find the future leaders within our workforce. We will be using role profiling and psychometric profiles to measure soft skills, and we'll also be putting plans in place to support training and apprenticeships to develop any technical knowledge and skills.
The world of work is changing, it’s innovating, and it’s exciting. But as HR professionals and managers, we need to make sure we’re utilizing the right tools and strategies to keep our teams and workforces motivated, happy and thriving. Looking at soft skills will help us get there, so that’s where we’re going to start.
This is part of our series, Right talent, right role.
