LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has launched the Skills on the Rise 2025 list, spotlighting 15 skills that professionals should invest in to stay ahead at work. The top 5 fastest growing skills that companies in India are hiring for include creativity and innovation (#1), code review (#2), problem solving (#3), pre-screening (#4), and strategic thinking (#5).

With 64% of the skills used in most jobs projected to change by 2030 in India, LinkedIn research shows that 25% of professionals worry about not having the skills needed for the future. Nearly 4 in 10 (43%) professionals in Bengaluru find it challenging to determine if they’re a good match for a job. With 35% not knowing which of their skills are fit for a job’s requirements, understanding which skills are in demand is more critical than ever. On the other hand, 69% of recruiters in India report a skills mismatch between the skills professionals have and the skills companies need.

Nirajita Banerjee, LinkedIn Career Expert and India Senior Managing Editor says, “India Inc. is experiencing a fundamental skills reset. As AI changes the way we work, soft skills like creativity, problem solving, and strategic thinking are no longer ‘nice to have’; they’re business-critical. At the same time, AI literacy is becoming a baseline expectation across all job functions. Employers are also doubling down on customer engagement and stakeholder management, making business acumen more valuable than ever. This year’s Skills on the Rise list is a must-have resource for professionals to identify and learn the skills that companies are hiring for in 2025.”

Soft skills take centre stage

As AI automates tasks, the skills that set professionals apart are becoming deeply human. Creativity and innovation (#1), problem solving (#3) and strategic thinking (#5) are seeing increased demand, not just in traditionally creative fields like arts & design and marketing, but also in business development and education. Similarly, communication is now essential beyond people-centric roles like sales and HR, extending into IT, consulting, and finance.

AI literacy is a baseline expectation across job functions

The ability to work with AI is a mainstay in today’s work landscape. With 95% of C-Suite leaders in India prioritising AI skills over traditional experience, Large Language Models (LLM) (#8), AI literacy (#9), and prompt engineering (#13) skills are becoming key differentiators for job applicants. While these skills have traditionally been associated with IT, their growing relevance in education and marketing highlights the expanding role of AI and tech fluency across job functions.

Customer engagement skills are in demand across India Inc.

As companies sharpen their focus on business growth, strong customer relationships remain a top priority. Customer engagement (#11) is a critical skill—with an increasing emphasis on customer satisfaction—across sales, business development, and marketing functions. Professionals who can help businesses build enduring customer relations and loyalty will have an advantage.

Majority professionals in Bengaluru are looking for new jobs in 2025

As per new research from LinkedIn, 86% of professionals in Bengaluru plan to look for a new job this year. However, 50% professionals in the city say they are applying for more jobs than ever, but are hearing back less. To guide these professionals towards the right opportunities, LinkedIn has unveiled its annual Jobs on the Rise list, revealing insights on the fastest-growing jobs over the past three years.

Here are this year’s Top 15 Skills on The Rise in India:

1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Code Review
3. Problem Solving
4. Pre-screening
5. Strategic Thinking
6. Communication
7. Adaptability
8. Large Language Models (LLM)
9. AI Literacy
10. Debugging
11. Customer Engagement
12. Statistical Data Analysis
13. Prompt Engineering
14. Market Analysis
15. Stakeholder Management

Here’s the full list of Jobs on the Rise in Bengaluru

1. Brand Associate
2. Power System Engineer
3. Artificial Intelligence Engineer
4. Communications Associate
5. Facilities Manager
6. Sales Development Manager
7. Electrical Manager
8. Delivery Consultant
9. Piping Design Engineer
10. Logistics Specialist

LinkedIn’s career expert Nirajita Banerjee shares tips to help professionals unlock new opportunities:

• Take stock of what you’ve got. Go back through your job history to do a skills inventory. Don’t forget to consider skills you’ve gained from other experiences including volunteering, sports clubs – you likely have more skills than you thought! This exercise will help you ID skills to highlight during your job search and can help remind you of skills that you would want to build in the future.
• Show off your soft skills. While many jobs require technical skills, skills like communication and adaptability are in demand and are super transferable across roles and industries. These skills matter to employers, so don’t bury the lead – members who list five or more skills receive up to 5.6x more profile views from recruiters and 24x recruiter InMails, and are 2.9x more likely to receive connection requests. Be sure to add your skills to your profile, and include context that demonstrates the impact your skills have made.
• Go skill surfing and get in growth mode. Identify the areas of growth – possibly around skills that you were missing for a specific job you want, as detailed in the job description. You can then check out your company’s continuing education offerings or ask for a stretch assignment in your current role. Take online courses like those offered by LinkedIn Learning, or take on a volunteer role for a local club or organisation. Don’t be afraid to try new things and get out of your comfort zone – you’ll be building your skills muscle.

 

To support professionals, LinkedIn Learning is offering free courses to help them develop these essential skills. Additionally, LinkedIn’s new AI-powered coaching feature enables learners to practice real-world workplace conversations—like performance reviews and feedback discussions—using text or voice, with personalised feedback to build confidence.

Methodology:

Consumer and Global HR Professionals Research: This research was conducted by Censuswide between November 27 to December 16, 2024 among 22,010 consumer respondents, and among 8,035 global HR professionals between November 28 to December 18, 2024. Markets included UK, USA, France, Germany, India, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, the Netherlands, Singapore, Japan, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Australia, Indonesia, and Italy. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles. Censuswide are members of the British Polling Council.

Jobs on the Rise: LinkedIn Economic Graph researchers examined millions of jobs started by LinkedIn members from January 1, 2022 to July 31, 2024 to calculate a growth rate for each job title. To be ranked, a job title needed to see positive growth across our membership base and sufficient job postings in the past year, as well as have grown to a meaningful size by 2024. Identical job titles across different seniority levels were grouped and ranked together. Internships, volunteer positions, interim roles and student roles were excluded, and jobs where hiring was dominated by a small handful of companies in each country were also excluded. Additional data points for each of the job titles are based on LinkedIn profiles of members holding the title and/or open jobs for that title in the country.

Skills on the Rise: LinkedIn measures the growth of skills based on three pillars: skill acquisition, hiring success and emerging demand. Skill acquisition counts the rate at which members are adding new skills to their profile. Hiring success is measured by the share of a skill possessed by members who have been hired in the past year. Emerging demand measures the increased presence of a given skill in paid job postings. Growth rates for all metrics are measured by comparing LinkedIn data from January 1 to December 31, 2024 to the same period in the previous year (January 1 to December 31, 2023).