Taking the Soft Option

Taking the Soft Option

Employers are placing more emphasis on school-leavers having soft skills

Employers are placing more emphasis on school-leavers having soft skills, such as communication and a work ethic rather than literacy and numeracy, according to a survey of 1400 UK organisations.

Results from the latest CIPD/KPMG quarterley 'Labour Market Outlook' confirm that the key attributes employers look for in school leavers are communication skills (40%), the desire to do a good job (39%) and personality (32%).

This corroborates our own research and experience in the graduate development field that shows that soft skills, including communication, behavioural awareness and team skills are considered to be fundamentally important in the modern workplace.