The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland has published a three-part series on a common challenge employers cite in hiring: soft skills deficits. | Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

New resource: why lack of soft skills is a hiring challenge and what to do about it

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland just published a three-part series about how in demand soft skills are for employers nationwide. The work features original Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland research; interviews with and photography of regional employers; student and educator perspectives on generational differences; and free tools and training programs to build soft skills.

Too busy to read it? You can listen to it, too. Start with Chapter 1, and don’t forget Chapters 2 and 3: https://www.clevelandfed.org/publications/multimedia-storytelling/mmst-20260327-soft-skills-and-the-training-that-builds-them/chapter-one?utm_source=industry-pitch&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=soft-skills-story

Chapter One: Hiring, We Have a Problem

It was in response to community conversations that Kyle Fee sought the answer to a question: Which skills are most in demand by employers? 

He didn’t ask employers. He studied the job ads they placed. A community development policy advisor for the Cleveland Fed, Fee tapped data from the online tool he co-created with the Philadelphia Fed. In all, the Occupational Mobility Explorer provided the opportunity to investigate the market demand for over 2,300 skills across more than 600 occupations. 

So, the answer? 

The skills most in demand were social and soft skills such as communication, customer service, and leadership, and demand for several of those skills ratchets up the higher wages go, Fee says. He found it a bit surprising. “People tend to connect technical skills with higher wages—‘You have to specialize’—when some of these other skills are just as important,” Fee says.

The problem today is too many job candidates lack these in-demand soft skills, say some engaged in today’s labor market. A lack of eye contact, handshakes, and ability to hold impromptu conversations prove more apparent and problematic as more organizations return to in-person office work, says Davonta Milbry, outreach coordinator for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland who teaches soft skills and career readiness. Can’t count on having the camera off then, he notes.