Hybrid Jobs: Combining hard and soft skills
Even when corporates are talking about technology in all spheres of organizational functions, a Study has found that honing one particular skill, even if it’s technology, is not the only essence for a successful career. According to the new study by Bentley University, researchers examined 24 million US job listings, looking for key skills across nine job categories. They found that employers want multidimensional employees who possess hard skills such as database technology, coupled with traditional soft skills like communication and collaboration.
“Based on the data analysis, 2016 is the year of the hybrid job – and the hybrid employee,” said Bentley University President Gloria Larson. “The successful employee of tomorrow will need to combine traditional soft skills such as communication and collaboration with the hard, technical skills that used to belong to a select tech-savvy group. This evolution reflects a growing movement in higher education, where more and more schools are finding creative ways to truly integrate liberal arts strengths with professional and technical skills. It is the way we need to teach and work – by helping to develop the ability to view opportunities, challenges, and problems through multiple perspectives, whether it is a student or an employee. It is exactly the type of change and innovation necessary to drive our economy.”
The report which examined the data from September 2014 to August 2015 found that 71% of skills which are in demand are required across 2+ job categories. And candidates that possess those cross-category skills will be best-prepared for the Hybrid Job of tomorrow, reports the Study.
This new analysis has found job descriptions are expanding to include skills that used to represent standalone jobs, threatening to altogether eliminate positions such as the social media strategist or web designer.
The report pointed out that 'the market data proved that some popular jobs are in decline as their once-innovative skills have become mainstream and integrated into other roles. For example, job roles for social media strategists have fallen 64% in the last five years, even as the skill of social media strategy has increased sharply in the HR jobs (up 376%), sales jobs (up 150%), and marketing and PR jobs (up 117%). Job postings for web designers have fallen 8 percent, even as the skill of web design has risen 11% in marketing/PR job listings and 9% in graphic design job listings. When it comes to sales, postings for business development executive have fallen 49%, but the need for that skill has grown 68% in marketing/PR job listings and 29% for IT job listings.'
“Another reason hybrid skills are in demand is the generational shift in the workplace, where large numbers of baby boomers are retiring and taking years of institutional knowledge and skills with them,” said Larson to Fast Company. "This makes the change in job requirements even more notable," she said. "And it underscores not only the importance of effective knowledge transfer from retiring workers to new employees in the critical onboarding process, but also the need for versatile employees,” she had said to Fast Company.
It has become essential for the employees to demonstrate a balance of their diverse skillsets to be attractive to the employers.