Luona and colleagues (2024) from the Pew Research Center reported on what workers in the United States consider to be the most important skills sought out by employers in today’s economy. Both interpersonal skills and written and spoken communication skills were listed to be the most important skills (reported by 85% employees), followed by critical thinking abilities (listed by 84% employees). Furthermore, skills that required physical labor (44%), math, analytical or computer skills (39%) and understanding artificial intelligence (35%) were reported by fewer employees compared to communication and interpersonal skills.

The results are based on Pew Research Center’s nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults who indicated they currently worked either full or part time in October 2024. A total of 5,395 participants responded from the approximately 6, 500 panelists sampled. Data was collected via online and live telephone interviewing.