Should we call 2024 the year of soft skills?

As 2024 draws to a close, one thing is clear: this year marked a turning point for soft skills. Their importance in every aspect of work has finally gone mainstream, thanks in part to the heated debate around AI's impact on the job market, sparked by OpenAI’s disruptive launches earlier this year.

Prominent organizations released research highlighting the growing significance of soft skills for both companies and professionals. I’ve shared and commented on several of these reports on LinkedIn, such as BNG’s survey revealing how much managers and employees value soft skills, Springboard’s findings on the soft skills gap in companies, and Deloitte’s research emphasizing how AI is amplifying their relevance.

Soft skills reaching mainstream awareness didn’t happen overnight. This shift began years ago but accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as students, professionals, and employees globally realized that the traditional workplace often undervalued human skills. Work-life balance became a top priority, driving decisions to stay in or leave jobs.

In 2024, Generative AI brought this trend into sharp focus by threatening roles previously deemed immune to technological disruption. This sparked what can be called the “democratization of soft skills,” as companies across all sectors and sizes recognized their importance—not just for executives but for the entire workforce.

Historically, big companies prioritized soft skills training only for leadership. Now, abundant research and direct experience show that a lack of soft skills contributes to pervasive issues like low employee engagement, high turnover, and the growing challenge of managing rapid change—regardless of sector or company size.

In today’s tight job market, meeting the economy’s soft skills demand requires action at every level. Students, professionals, employees, and managers all need training in these vital competencies.

But this raises two urgent questions:

How can we train soft skills across entire workforces and schools in a way that’s scalable and economically viable?

How do we make this training engaging enough to motivate people to learn and apply these skills effectively?

At Wisepath, we’ve found a way to answer these questions elegantly. Our methodology enables precise measurement of soft skills, allowing them to be developed as systematically as hard skills. By integrating mainstream video games into the process, we make learning playful and engaging, transforming training into an enjoyable experience. In doing so, we’re equipping professionals with the tools to tackle the challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s job market—while hardly noticing they’re in training.

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