For All the Hype Around AI, Many Employers Are Simply Looking for People With Basic …

Across swathes of the labor market, it’s elementary rather than advanced technical skills that are in greatest demand.

Key Points:

• 1-in-10 skills mentioned in US job postings is an elementary technical skill, and almost 1-in-5 postings mention basic computer literacy. 
• Human skills are also in demand, with communication the single most frequently listed skill in postings. 
• AI skills are a small but growing share of the labor market. 
• Accounting, administrative assistance, logistic support, and human resources are the job sectors most likely to require basic digital skills.

For all the talk around the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the labor market, when it comes to the technical skills most in demand by employers, basic computer literacy is the main focus. Across the four countries analyzed, as well as most occupations, a substantial share of job postings list elementary digital skills among the requirements, and the frequency with which they’re mentioned is a reminder that not all workers possess these skills. 

Lacking basic digital skills is not only a disadvantage in the workplace, it’s also a barrier to gaining employment in the first place. If people don’t have the basic digital skills to search for a job online, for example, then they are shut out of a large part of today’s labor market. Yet a large portion of the population lacks these skills, underlining the need for policymakers to tackle digital illiteracy. While AI may eventually necessitate broad upskilling across the workforce to embrace advanced technologies, there remains a more pressing concern around closing basic digital skills gaps and allowing everyone to fully engage with work in the digital age. 

As a proxy for basic computer skills, Hiring Lab analyzed job postings mentioning generic “computer skills,” “computer literacy,” and the ubiquitous “Microsoft Office” and its constituent programs (Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint). The share of job postings containing at least one of these competencies hasn’t changed too much over the past five years in the four countries analyzed: the US, Canada, the UK, and France (the share dipped during the pandemic but then recovered). 

Employers want a mix of human skills and basic technical competencies

Looking at the most commonly listed skills in US job postings, many of them are soft skills including communication, leadership, and organization. Communication skills are mentioned in almost one-third of postings. 

But elementary technical skills — such as the ability to use a computer and standard software packages — are also widely listed. Generic computer skills, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Excel all appear in the top 10 skills listed in postings. As a share of all technical and non-technical skills listed in US job postings, basic digital skills comprise 1-in-10. 

Basic digital skills are important in a range of occupations 

Many job categories require some level of basic computer skills, though their prevalence in postings varies quite widely across sectors. Office-based categories, unsurprisingly, have the highest share of postings noting these basic skills, led by accounting, administrative assistance, logistic support, and human resources. 

More technical roles, including postings for software development roles, don’t often list basic tech skills (just 9% of postings for software developer roles note basic digital skills). It is likely assumed that most people interested in the most highly technical jobs should already have these skills, putting the focus within postings on proficiency in advanced programming languages. In-person occupations like driving, beauty & wellness, childcare, and cleaning unsurprisingly have the lowest shares of postings listing basic tech skills. 

Sector-specific software is becoming more important

Though general computer literacy is a common employer demand, there are specific technical, digital skills that are becoming increasingly prominent within certain job categories. In the US, the scientific research & development category has seen the biggest increase in the share of job postings listing at least one tech skill, led by rising demand for AI skills. 

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is increasingly in demand in sales jobs, while the same is true for computer-aided design (CAD) skills in industrial engineering roles. Specific legal software packages are on the rise in the legal category, while proficiency in certain healthcare software is on the rise in physician & surgeon jobs. 

The immediate impact of AI remains modest 

For all the hype around AI, the share of job postings containing AI-related terms remains modest at around 2-3% in the countries analyzed. Broad AI technologies (distinct from newer generative AI technology) have been around for a while, and the share of postings mentioning AI terms today is broadly on par with where it was at the start of 2020. The share increased up until 2022, but a sharp slowdown in the global tech sector (a major employer for AI jobs) dragged it down again. Over the past year, the AI share has started to rise again. 

Looking specifically at jobs related to Generative AI (GenAI), these postings remain a small but fast-growing share of all postings. The GenAI share began to grow rapidly shortly after the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, but these jobs remain rare at only around 0.2% of postings. But if the sharp upward trajectory is maintained, GenAI jobs will start to represent a significant part of the labor market before long. 

Tech and engineering job postings tend to list many advanced technical skills 

Taking a broader definition of technical skills — including more advanced skills in categories including Databases, IT & Software Development, Network & Server Technology, Operating Systems, Programming Languages & Frameworks, and Software Programs — tech and engineering categories tend to list several such skills in a typical posting. 

Software development postings in the US typically list almost 10 tech skills, while those in IT operations & helpdesk list 7, and mathematics postings list 5. These figures haven’t changed greatly over the past five years. 

Highly technical occupations have seen the biggest hiring slowdown 

Hiring demand has slowed sharply over the past couple of years for the most technical occupations, (based on the average number of skills per posting). In the US, postings in the high-tech tier, which includes occupations with more than 3 tech skills on average per posting (including software development, industrial engineering, and scientific research & development), have dropped 19% below their pre-pandemic baseline. By contrast, the low- and mid-tech tiers (including occupations with postings that typically include 2 or less, or 2-3 tech skills, respectively) are 19% and 15% above the baseline, respectively. 

Conclusion

While AI and other advanced technologies are likely to shape the future labor market, the current reality is that many employers are simply seeking workers possessing basic computer skills. While policymakers are highly focused on the impact of AI, they should not forget that there are still many people who don’t have elementary digital skills, shutting them off from opportunities and limiting talent pools available to employers.