Do you hold any of these in-demand job skills?

Coming up close is cloud computing skills, as companies today are built and run on the cloud. The report said that firms are hunting for talent who have the skills to drive technical architecture, design, and delivery of cloud systems such as Microsoft Azure. The third in-demand hard skill includes analytical reasoning, as organisations look for talents who can make sense of data and uncover insights that drive the best decisions for the business.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also among top skills. Companies see experts in AI as capable of machine learning, and natural language processing to essentially deliver more relevant, personalised, and innovative products and services. Taking the fifth spot is UX design, as several studies have regularly alerted companies of decreasing average attention span of consumers. Organisations now see the need to build more human-centric products and experiences.

Business analysis makes it to the list, and is also recognised as one of the few hard skills every professional should have. Affiliate marketing fills up the seventh spot, for its skill to leverage company partnerships or influencers that are hyper-targeted to a particular audience. An unsurprising skill that companies are constantly on the lookout for is sales. Clinching the eighth position in the ranking, firms are in need of great sales people who can effectively manage a sales team, understand the sales funnel, work with cross-functional partners, and sell into the highest levels of the business.

Filling up the ninth and 10th spot in the list are scientific computing and video production respectively. Scientific computing skills are held by data science professionals, engineers, and software architects, and others. According to LinkedIn, companies require more professionals that can develop machine learning models and apply statistical and analytical approaches to large data sets using programs such as Python, MATLAB, and others. In addition, video production skills come in handy as consumers have an insatiable appetite for video content and in turn becomes a priority for companies.

Meanwhile, the top five most in-demand soft skills are:

1. Creativity - Organisations require people who can creatively approach problems and tasks across all business roles, from software engineering to HR.

2. Persuasion - Leaders and hiring managers value individuals who can explain the “why.”

3. Collaboration - High-functioning teams can accomplish more than any individual—and organisations are in for it.

4. Adaptability - The only constant in life and in business, is change. A positive attitude and open-minded professionalism, particularly in stressful situations will come in handy.

5. Emotional Intelligence - Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, evaluate, and respond to own emotions and the emotions of others. New to the most in-demand skills list this year, the need for emotional intelligence underscores the importance of effectively responding to and interacting with colleagues.

The LinkedIn list of in-demand skills were measured by identifying the skills listed on the LinkedIn profiles of people who are getting hired at the highest rates. Only cities with 100,000 LinkedIn members were included in the analysis.