What are LinkedIn's Fastest Growing Workplace Skills?

LinkedIn has released its second annual Skills on the Rise report, which has identified the five fastest growing skills groups across industries. 

The report analysed the fastest growing skills based on acquisition – the skills LinkedIn members added to their member profiles the most – and hiring skills, or the most common skills held by members who were hired over 2025. 

These skills ranged from more technical areas, such as AI and machine learning, to softer skills like leadership, culture and communication. 

This research has been released as skills begin to play a more important role in the hiring process – with one in five professionals surveyed by LinkedIn saying that not having relevant skills is making their job search more challenging. 

This lack of business-ready skills is also reducing business competitiveness, with research from the World Economic Forum and Cognizant finding that the demand for AI skills is growing faster than workforces can respond. 

AI skills development

According to LinkedIn, AI literacy is one of the fastest growing skills for workers in the UK, with more companies hiring employees who can turn new AI solutions into usable tools for their organisation. 

In particular, the report finds that organisations are increasingly hiring for prompt engineering and machine learning, with businesses needing more talent that can deploy AI systems at scale. 

Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, has previously said that he believes that there will be a shift from traditional hiring practices as the need for AI skills increases. 

In a conversation reported on by Business Insider, he said: “I think the mindset shift is probably the most exciting thing, because my guess is that the future of work belongs not anymore to the people that have fanciest degrees or went to the best colleges.”

Instead, Ryan believes that those who are most likely to get hired are those who are “adaptable, forward-thinking, ready to learn, and ready to embrace these [AI] tools,”

Success in an AI-enabled workplace

The LinkedIn CEO also announced he was releasing a book in January 2026, designed to advise workers on success in the AI age. 

Called ‘Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI’, the book explores how AI is reshaping the future of work for employees. 

Announcing the launch of the book, Ryan said: ““The future of work is not off on the horizon. It is here now, moving fast, shaped by the choices we make today.

“AI is already changing how we learn, how we create and how we move forward. The real question is not what the technology can do. The real question is what we choose to do with it.”

He added: “Moments like this do not just test our skills. They reveal our character and our willingness to lead this moment.”

The role of human skills in workplace development

As advancements in AI change the way people work on a wider scale, LinkedIn finds that soft skills – such as leadership and communication – are becoming more valued by businesses.

These skills are helping businesses “work across functions, develop new approaches and ensure leadership remains ethical and inclusive”, says the report. 

Ryan discussed the need for soft skills – or human skills, as he refers to them as – at the World Economic Forum in Davos. 

He said: "The most in-demand skill that people are looking for right now are people skills, human skills, communication, collaboration, compassion, empathy. The things that you need that are truly human, that can't be automated out.

"In this sea of uncertainty and change, the path forward is one in which people are able to obviously understand the skills they need for the employment they want. But it's really a balance of both human and technical skills."