The Skills Companies Need Most in 2018 – And The Courses to Get Them

Whenever there is change, there is opportunity. With report after report showing the world of work changing faster than ever today, it’s fair to assume there’s more opportunity than ever.

The challenge? It isn’t easy to know where that opportunity exists. If only some organization with the resources necessary to answer that question could release a roadmap…

Well, consider this is your roadmap. Using a combination of LinkedIn data and survey results, we determined both the soft and the hard skills companies need most. And then we provided LinkedIn Learning courses that teach those skills, which we’ve made free for all of January 2018.

Enjoy. Learning these skills will help you stay ahead of change and make the most of all that opportunity in 2018.

The soft skills companies need most – and how to learn them

First, let’s start with the skills all professionals should learn, regardless of what they do. These are “soft” skills, although in practice they are anything but: 57 percent of leaders say soft skills are more important than hard skills.

So, what are the soft skills companies need most in 2018? To find out, we surveyed 2,000 business leaders and asked them the soft skills they’d most like to see their employees learn. Here’s what they said:

1. Leadership

Recommended Courses: Body Language for Leaders, Strategic Thinking, Leading Without Formal Authority

2. Communication

Recommended Courses: Communicating with Confidence, Influencing Others, Giving and Receiving Feedback

3. Collaboration

Recommended Courses: Effective Listening, Building Business Relationships, Finding Your Introvert/Extrovert Balance in the Workplace

4. Time Management

Recommended Courses: Managing Your Time, Creating Great Workplace Habits, Getting Things Done

The hard skills companies need most – and how to learn them

Next, it’s time to go to the hard skills companies need most. Using LinkedIn data from our 500+ million members, we identified the skills companies were working the hardest to fill. We coupled that with with related jobs, their average US salaries and courses that teach those skills (which are free to take for all of January 2018).

1. Cloud and Distributed Computing

Related Jobs: Platform Engineer ($120,000), Cloud Architect ($135,000)

Recommended Courses: Amazon Web Services: Storage and Data Management, Cloud Architecture: Advanced Concepts, Cloud Computing Career Paths and Certifications: First Steps

2. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining

Related Jobs: Business Analyst ($72,000), Data Analyst ($62,000), Statistician ($90,200)

Recommended Courses: The Essential Elements of Predictive Analytics and Data Mining, Data Science Foundations: Fundamentals, SQL Essential Training

3. Middleware and Integration Software

Related Jobs: IT Manager ($95,000), Systems Integration Engineer ($98,000)

Recommended Courses: ASP.NET Core: Middleware, Learn API Documentation with JSON and XML, JavaScript and JSON: Integration Techniques

4. Web Architecture and Development Framework

Related Jobs: Web developer ($65,000), Full Stack Web Developer ($77,000)

Recommended Courses: Building Angular and Node Apps with Authentication, Creating Your First RESTful Spring Boot Microservice with JPA, React: Replacing Legacy Projects

5. User Interface Design

Related Jobs: UX Designer ($85,000), Web Developer ($65,000), UI Designer ($72,000)

Recommended Courses: UX Foundations: Prototyping, Creating a Design System with Sketch, Planning a Career in User Experience

6. Software Revision Control Systems

Related Jobs: Web Developer ($65,000), Software Programmer ($64,000)

Recommended Courses: SVN for Java Developers, Git Essential Training, Learning Software Version Control

7. Data Presentation

Related Jobs: Graphic Designer ($45,000), Data Scientist ($113,000), Business Consultant ($83,000)

Recommended Courses: Learning Data Visualization, Data Visualization: Best Practices, Learning Graphic Design: Presentations

8. SEO/SEM Marketing

Related Jobs: Marketing Specialist ($49,000), Online Marketing Manager ($80,000), Advertising Manager ($61,200)

Recommended Courses: SEO Foundations, Introduction to PPC with Google AdWords and Bing Ads, Learning SEO Tools

9. Mobile Development

Related Jobs: Mobile Engineer ($95,000), Mobile Application Developer ($83,800)

Recommended Courses: Android Development Essential Training: Create Your First App, Advanced iOS App Development: Core Motion, Prototype a CRM Mobile Application with Framer

10. Network and Information Security

Related Jobs: Information Security Specialist ($96,000), Cyber Security Specialist ($92,500)

Recommended Courses: IT Security Foundations: Network Security, Data-Driven Network Security Essentials, Implementing an Information Security Program

11. Marketing Campaign Management

Related Jobs: Online Marketing Manager ($80,000), Digital Marketing Specialist ($52,000), Digital Marketing Manager ($77,000)

Recommended Courses: Create a Go-To-Market Plan, Building Your Marketing Technology Stack, Marketing Analytics: Segmentation and Testing

12. Data Engineering and Data Warehousing

Related Jobs: Software Engineer ($95,000), Database Developer ($85,000), Data Analyst ($62,000)

Recommended Courses: Data Science Foundations: Data Engineering, SQL Essential Training, Transitioning from Data Warehousing to Big Data

13. Storage Systems and Management

Related Jobs: Database Administrator ($91,000), System Administrator ($68,800)

Recommended Courses: Microsoft Azure: Design an Application Storage and Data Access Strategy, Google Drive Essential Training, Linux: Storage Systems

14. Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Related Jobs: Electrical Engineer ($81,000), Electronic Engineer ($88,400)

Recommended Courses: AutoCAD Electrical Essential Training, Learning MATLAB, Electronics Foundations: Semiconductor Devices

15. Algorithm Design

Related Jobs: Software Engineer ($95,000), Lead Software Engineer ($120,000), Lead Developer ($109,000)

Recommended Courses: Machine Learning & AI Foundations: Value Estimations, Machine Learning & AI Foundations: Decision Trees, Machine Learning & AI: Advanced Decision Trees

16. Perl/Python/Ruby

Related Jobs: Software Engineer ($95,000), Data Scientist ($113,000)

Recommended Courses: Learning the Python 3 Standard Library, Python Design Patterns, Python Projects

17. Shell Scripting Languages

Related Jobs: Linux System Administrator ($75,000), System Engineer ($90,000), Java Developer ($80,000)

Recommended Courses: Learning Linux Shell Scripting, Perl 5 Essential Training, Learning PowerShell 5

18. Mac, Linux and Unix Systems

Related Jobs: System Administrator ($68,800), Linux System Administrator ($75,000)

Recommended Courses: Learning Linux Command Line, Cert Prep: Red Hat Certified System Administrator (EX200), SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Essential Training

19. Java Development

Related Jobs: Java Developer ($80,000), Web Developer ($65,000)

Recommended Courses: Kotlin for Java Developers, JSON Processing with Java EE, Java 8 Essential Training

20. Business Intelligence

Related Jobs: Business Intelligence Analyst ($73,100), Forecast Analyst ($64,000)

Recommended Courses: Power BI Pro Essential Training, Balanced Scorecard and Key Performance Indicators, Financial Forecasting with Big Data

21. Software QA and User Testing

Related Jobs: User Experience Engineer ($85,000), Software Test Engineer ($80,000), Quality Assurance Engineer ($77,000)

Recommended Courses: Programming Foundations: Software Quality Assurance, Penetration Testing Essential Training, UX Foundations: Usability Testing

22. Virtualization

Related Jobs: Network Engineer ($82,000), Network Administrator ($65,000)

Recommended Courses: Learning VMware vSphere 6.5, VMware vSphere: Upgrade a Deployment to vSphere 6.5, Windows Server 2016: Configure Hyper-V

23. Automotive Services, Parts and Design

Related Jobs: Vehicle Engineer ($96,500), Industrial Designer ($63,600)

Recommended Courses: Learning CATIA v5, Alias Essential Training, Insights on Automotive Design with Veejay Gahir

24. Economics

Related Jobs: Business Development Manager ($99,000), Auditor ($56,000), Research Analyst ($56,400)

Recommended Courses: Managerial Economics, Applied Economic Forecasting with Big Data, Blockchain Basics

25. Database Management and Software

Related Jobs: Database Specialist ($53,000), Database Administrator ($91,000)

Recommended Courses: Database Foundations: Administration, Microsoft SQL Server 2016: Installation and Administration, Oracle 12c Database: Administration

Top Hard Skills Methodology

There are thousands of skills that members can add to their profiles, so we grouped these skills into several dozen categories. For example, skills like “Android” and “iOS” would fit into the “Mobile Development” category. Then we looked at all of the hiring and recruiting activity that happened on LinkedIn between Jan. 1 and Sept. 1, equaling billions of data points, and identified the skill categories that belonged to members who were more likely to start a new role within a company and receive interest from companies. Skill categories that did not meet a specific threshold for membership were excluded from our analysis. See last year’s list.