In keeping with our recent survey*, around half (49%) of recruiters say they’ve a skills gap of their organisation…
In today’s competitive job market, having the appropriate skills could make all of the difference in securing your dream job. But what skills are most in-demand, and how will you stand out to the 80% of recruiters who plan to rent latest staff this 12 months?
To assist be sure you’re developing (and studying) in the appropriate areas, we’ve analysed thousands and thousands of job adverts on Reed.co.uk** to seek out the seven key skills that employers are searching for:
1. Communication skills
Over 1 million job ads posted on Reed.co.uk in 2024 listed communication skills as something they were searching for of their ideal candidate.
And with an additional 39% of recruiters we surveyed stating that interpersonal skills is where their organisation faces the most important skills gap, becoming an amazing communicator in 2025 will guarantee you’re in demand.
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2. Flexibility
If one among your strengths is flexibility, recruiters are searching for you.
Not only was this skill mentioned in over 167,000 job ads in 2024, its demand has also increased by 6% in comparison with 2023.
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3. Leadership skills
Leadership was the third hottest skill on recruiters’ wishlists in 2024, featuring in almost 98,000 job ads – an 18% increase in popularity in comparison with the previous 12 months.
Moreover, almost half of the recruiters we surveyed claimed that their organisation has a skills gap on this area, further cementing the importance of leadership expertise in today’s job market.
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4. Creativity
Many recruiters were searching for creative thinkers in 2024, with 96,000 job ads calling creativity out as a key requirement for applicants.
And with a 38% increase in mentions YoY, the demand for this skill is more likely to proceed into 2025 and beyond.
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5. Negotiation skills
With over 83,000 mentions in job ads in 2024 and a 43% rise in comparison with 2023, negotiation skills have gotten increasingly invaluable to recruiters.
They could even be…non-negotiable.
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6. Resilience
Resilience isn’t only a sought-after skill, it’s actually becoming much more desirable over time.
With an enormous 82% increase in 2024 in comparison with the previous 12 months, developing your resilience will all the time be worthwhile relating to improving your employability.
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7. Critical pondering
Out of the seven in-demand skills, the necessity for critical thinkers was up probably the most year-on-year.
It rose by an infinite 183% in mentions in 2024 in comparison with 2023, and was featured in over 23,000 job ads on Reed.co.uk.
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Honourable mention: Artificial intelligence (AI) skills. Whilst the variety of job ads mentioning AI skills (612) was relatively low compared to the above in-demand skills, it increased by 74% 12 months on 12 months – demonstrating its fast-growing need in today’s job market. 25% of the recruiters we surveyed also stated that their organisation had a skills gap on this area.
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Haven’t found what you’re searching for? View all courses now, or discover a job you’ll love by searching 1000’s of vacancies on Reed.co.uk.
*Source: A web based survey of 251 recruiters from across the UK – 4th November – eighth November 2024.
**Source: Job ads posted on Reed.co.uk – 1st January 2023 to thirty first December 2023 vs. 1st January 2024 to thirty first December 2024.
