With skills needed for a job changing by 68% by 2030 due to the impact of AI, 91% of companies in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) say they plan to enhance their people’s skills and abilities this year.
Last year, technology took centrestage – LinkedIn saw a 21x surge in
global English-language job postings mentioning GPT or ChatGPT;
this
year, LinkedIn said companies are directing their attention towards
talent development. Today, the top five skills that hiring managers in
APAC consider the most important in the era of AI are a combination of
both hard and soft skills – problem-solving abilities (35%),
communications skills (27%), critical thinking (25%), AI skills (19%)
and IT & web skills (17%).
Feon Ang, VP, LinkedIn Talent
Solutions and MD, APAC said: “In the past year, the narrative was
dominated by technological advancements, particularly the integration of
AI into business workflows. The resulting surge in demand for AI
expertise reflected the challenges many businesses faced in navigating
this transformative shift and incorporating cutting-edge technologies
into their operations.
"However, we are now witnessing a pronounced shift towards skills – both technical and soft skills – to thrive in the era of AI. Investing in people’s growth is no longer a perk but a strategic imperative, considering that our workforce is the driving force behind companies’ success in an era shaped by both AI innovation and collaboration with AI.”
Eighty-eight percent of
employers have observed substantial changes in the skills and
qualifications they prioritise in job candidates due to the pervasive
impact of AI and automation in their industries. Companies are placing
emphasis on candidates who possess not only AI expertise, but also soft
skills and a capacity for learning.
According to LinkedIn’s latest Workplace Learning Report,
94% of learning and development (L&D) professionals in APAC believe
that human skills are increasingly becoming the most competitive in our
economy. In particular, ‘communication’ has topped LinkedIn’s most in-demand skills list for 2024
across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines and
Singapore. LinkedIn said this is not surprising when AI tools free up
time for professionals to excel in jobs only people can do, like build
relationships and collaborate with others.
In addition, 40% of
APAC hiring managers consider an individual's potential for growth and
ability to learn as the most important factor when evaluating internal
and external candidates.
Most of the companies in APAC (91%)
are also focusing on preparing their employees for the future world of
work by enhancing their skills and capabilities, believing that this
will lead to increased confidence and job security. In fact, APAC HR
professionals are offering online training programmes (44%) and internal
learning and development sessions focused on generative AI (43%) to do
so.
As companies increasingly invest in learning
opportunities, the focus on creating a culture of learning has soared,
becoming a top priority for L&D professionals in 2024 across all
APAC markets. In fact, 92% of them in APAC say they can show business
value by helping employees gain skills to move into different internal
roles.
A recent survey of APAC leaders has revealed that
internal mobility is becoming an increasingly important factor in
attracting and retaining top talent within organisations. The survey
found that 48% of APAC leaders identified providing career progression
opportunities as their key priority this year.
Nearly four in 10
(37%) hiring managers see career growth opportunities as key to
retaining top talent, along with competitive salary and benefits (39%).
In addition, 49% of APAC employers believe that highlighting
opportunities for career advancement and increasing internal mobility
are the top two ways to attract talent. These findings suggest that
organisations in the APAC region would do well to focus on internal
mobility as a key strategy for attracting and retaining top talent in
the years to come.
To assist companies in their pivot towards a skills-centric approach, LinkedIn has introduced tools such as Recruiter 2024, LinkedIn’s AI-assisted recruiting experience. Recruiter
enables hirers to quickly access high-quality candidate recommendations
by using natural language search prompts and data from millions of
professionals and companies, ensuring they are able to shortlist talent
based on skills they need. These features will ramp to all APAC
customers in English-speaking markets from end February.
To empower companies to build the skills they need for the next decade of work, the company has launched AI-powered coaching in LinkedIn Learning – a chatbot experience that offers real-time advice and tailored content recommendations personalised for learners based on their job title, career goal, and skills they follow.
This is currently available to APAC customers in English-speaking markets. The company has also been expanding its in-demand skill library, including AI courses. AI courses in particular have seen a 5X uptick in learners.
In early March,
we will be launching new career development and internal mobility
features within LinkedIn Learning to help guide employees to critical
skills, develop skills that matter to grow, and connect to the best-fit
opportunity at their organisation. This will be available in English,
Hindi, Japanese, Indonesian and Malay, amongst others.
Ang said:
"Business leaders recognise that they cannot rely on old talent
playbooks in this new era of work that’s being reshaped by AI, and where
skills needed for the same job will change by 68% by 2030. Every
minute, LinkedIn helps seven people get hired and 140 hours of learning
content is consumed.
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| Concept art representing a journey generated by Blue Willow. |
"Building on this, we’ve supercharged our hiring and learning solutions to help companies recruit and retain the best talent. Take the National Healthcare Group in Singapore, for example, which is on a journey to foster self-directed learning amongst their employees by nurturing a robust culture of continuous learning. They're looking to incorporate LinkedIn's AI-powered coaching into their learning and development programmes, empowering employees to take charge of their professional growth.”
Explore
View insights from LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report for Australia/New Zealand, India and Southeast Asia.
*LinkedIn’s research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 4,323 hiring managers (middle management+) aged 18-77 in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the US, India, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, China, Netherlands, Sweden, MENA, and Brazil. The data was collected between 15 December 2023 and 4 January 2024.
