A Harvard study shows a growing trend in the labor market from 1980 to 2012.

Traditional economic theory suggests that technological advancements make the labor market increasingly demand highly skilled workers. Technology will then replace low-skilled jobs. For example, in the 17th century, there was a profession called a "computer" or a calculator, which was a person who did mathematical calculations. The advent of technology has made this profession disappear. Or, in a more current situation, ChatGPT or generative AI can make many jobs disappear. But on the contrary, professions that take the results of calculations and use them, such as analysis, communication with others, do not disappear over time. These professions are professions that rely on people skills, interpersonal relationships, or so-called social skills.

When it comes to social skills, the skills in this group are not related to cognitive skills or brain abilities. Examples include teamwork, collaboration, oral communication, emotional and social intelligence, leadership, and these skills have also been found to be related to higher success in adulthood. While cognitive skills are not highly correlated.

From what happened, it led to an exploration of the possibility that social skills will be an important factor in making workers successful in the labor market. Technology may be something that causes a change from jobs that use technical expertise to be at a higher risk of being replaced. While professions that require social skills, collaboration, and human interaction are becoming more valuable.

There is evidence from a 2017 study by David J. Deming, an economics professor at Harvard University, that the importance of social skills is becoming more important in the labor market. For example,

Comparing the labor market in the United States between 1980 and 2012, occupations that focus on the use of social skills have increased by 11.8%. In addition, wages have also grown rapidly. At the same time, occupations that work with numbers but use low social skills have seen a decline in the number of positions.

And the study also found that in 2012, having social skills could predict having a permanent job, employment rate, wages, and wage growth rates as well. While numerical professions are the opposite.

From the perspective of workers in the labor market, in order to be successful in terms of getting a job and wages, training social skills is important, which can start from childhood. However, even in the working age, it can still be trained through training or coaching.

At the same time, the leaders of companies and organizations all want their employees to have social skills in order to create a work environment that is conducive to work efficiency. Measuring and evaluating social skills is therefore something that can be started from the selection of personnel for employment to the evaluation of the results of social skills training courses in the end as well.

Original article:

Deming, D. J. (2017). The growing importance of social skills in the labor market. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(4), 1593-1640.