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More than half of today’s workers think that entry-level employees are not adequately prepared for the workforce, according to a finding from a recent from technology education provider General Assembly. Their reasoning? A gaping lack of “soft skills”. 

Also called “power skills” or “core skills”, soft skills relate to emotional intelligence and human interaction. Their importance is recognised in a number of international frameworks, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) list of . Unesco’s eight essential attributes for navigating today’s fast-paced and interconnected world are: systems thinking, anticipatory thinking, normative thinking, strategic thinking, collaboration, critical thinking, self-awareness and integrated problem-solving. 

It may not be surprising that young people struggle with these skills, given that many spent their formative years in the Covid-19 lockdown. Yet, these concerns predate the pandemic. reported on the mismatch between job candidates’ skills and employers’ needs in 2013. And, as conversations turn to the impact of automation and artificial intelligence on the job market and the need for workers to develop human skills that technology cannot easily replace, the call to prioritise soft skills has only intensified. So why are young people entering the workforce without them?

In a  by the Society for Human Resource Management, more than half of survey respondents alleged that education systems were failing to fill these soft skills gaps. A classical liberal arts education was meant to address these needs, prioritising humanities subjects, such as philosophy and literature, alongside mathematics and science. But, while liberal arts approaches still exist, many institutions have been forced to  owing to budget constraints and changing market demands. 

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Students are now increasingly choosing to study “employable” subjects such as , which are believed to have a higher return on investment. But these programmes also often promote specific technical skills at the expense of transversal soft skills that are essential for career growth in the modern economy. And, according to employers, these same young people lack the soft skills needed to thrive at work.

So how do we address this skills mismatch? 

Education systems must reposition soft skills as fundamental, either by reinvigorating the arts and humanities or by embedding human-centred competencies more deliberately in other subjects.

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This transformation is already under way. For instance, a recent  brought together academics from across the region to discuss approaches and challenges to integrating soft skills into an increasingly crowded curriculum.

Yet, the inclusion of soft skills doesn’t have to be at the expense of technical skills. Work-study programmes, internships and co-educational training can complement a more comprehensive, humanistic core curriculum. To do this, meaningful partnerships with NGOs and the private sector are essential.

One prominent example is Germany’s , a two-track model that combines classroom learning with experiential learning in the workplace. In the training track, students apprentice with a company to gain real-world experience; the classroom track provides students with a theoretical background for their work and the opportunity to critically reflect on what they have learned. This promotes the development of both technical and soft skills that make graduates attractive in the job market. Given the dual VET system, it’s not surprising that Germany has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe.

Another innovative example comes from , which embeds critical thinking into its first-year business curriculum. It has also partnered with Reliant, a local energy company, to create the Reliant Student Experience Office, which supports students’ career development with mentorship and leadership opportunities. Like the dual VET system, this approach allows students to develop the soft skills favoured by employers while simultaneously gaining valuable networking and professional experience.

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The transition to a sustainable economy will, of course, require technical skills. The world needs more solar engineers, sustainability analysts and supply chain managers to meet our climate and energy goals. In fact,  that, by 2050, there will be twice as many “green” jobs as there are qualified people to fill them. But, alongside these career opportunities, it is important to bear in mind that not everyone will become a solar engineer, and even solar engineers will need soft skills in order to be creative and adaptable as the demands of their work shift and change over time. 

In the end, every job is a “green” job because every job will uniquely impact society and the environment. Soft skills allow us to recognise the complexity of the challenges we face, help us to imagine a better future and enable us to collaborate in collective pursuit of that future. 

Employers want soft skills. The world needs soft skills. And the answer is education.

is head of education and training at the SDG Academy, a division of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

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