Are Softskills New Job Currency ?
What if the most prized skills will be of the so-called soft variety? These include communication, creativity, emotional intelligence, artistry—even philosophy
Just a few years ago, conventional thinking suggested AI would replace blue collar workers en masse. Pundits suggested truckers would soon be out of work. This prompted commentators to suggest drivers, cashiers, and warehouse staff learn coding to stay vocationally relevant.
This logic was based on a broader assumption: that computing skills would remain in high demand. Is that really the case in 2025 when it comes to AI and jobs?
Not if you ask Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google. “We believe as an industry that in the next one year the vast majority of programmers will be replaced by AI programmers,” he said at the NatSec Tech Podcast. “We also believe that within one year you will have (AI) graduate-level mathematicians that are at the top of graduate math programs.” Likewise, AI is poised to swallow up other computing professions that were once considered safe. Just last year, IBM laid off many senior programmers
Is a Focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Still Relevant?
These shifts are not isolated. They speak to a broader unraveling of long-held assumptions. Take STEM. There’s been a huge recent uptick of students pursuing science, math, and engineering fields, driven by the belief technologically savvy workers are what’s needed. But what if the future doesn’t belong to coders, computer engineers, and data scientists? What if the most prized skills will be of the so-called soft variety? These include communication, creativity, emotional intelligence, artistry—even philosophy.