In 1971 there was an episode that came to be known as "ping-pong diplomacy". At that time, before the arrival of Deng Xiaoping, US-China relations had been deadlocked for two decades, but one American was about to change that when he missed a bus. It was young athlete Glenn Cowen who didn’t make it in time to board his team's bus, with which he was competing in a world table tennis championship in Japan.

Left on the ground, Cowen opted to board the Chinese team bus. There he bumped into Zhuang Zedong, who was then the star player of the rival country. Zedong, upon meeting the American athlete, shook his hand and presented him with a silk cloth with a print of China's Huangshan Mountains. As they left the vehicle together, photographers captured the moment of camaraderie and shortly afterwards the US team received an invitation to play a series of friendly matches in China. What seemed like a simple anecdote had opened an era regarding the relations between the two countries.     

An act of empathy, and the ability to relate to the rival, achieved what complex diplomatic strategies had been unable to do. Following a similar logic, before hiring or promoting someone, companies today no longer limit themselves to evaluating the simple objective data on a CV, but ask other questions: how does this person work with others? how does he or she react when something doesn’t go as planned? how does he or she learn, unlearn and relearn? how does he or she learn again?

This is where the importance of soft skills lies. These are skills traditionally considered "intangible" such as collaboration, communication or adaptability. And they don’t replace technical knowledge; rather, their role is to activate it, connect it and make it sustainable over time.

What will I read about in this article?

• When knowledge is no longer enough

• Soft skills as the basis for opening up new opportunities

• What are the soft skills that stand out most today?

• Why do companies value soft skills more today?

• The importance of soft skills: from work to home

The same report notes that analytical thinking remains the most sought-after core skill among employers: seven out of ten companies consider it essential in 2025. It is followed by resilience, flexibility and agility, along with leadership and social influence. In this scenario, companies seem to have understood something essential: technical skills can be learned; human skills, not always.

The importance of soft skills is therefore growing: the ability to adapt, to learn continuously and to work with others in increasingly complex and diverse environments.

According to recent research published in Nature, so-called foundational skills could be of decisive importance for both individuals and companies.

The study analysed US data on more than 1,000 occupations, across all sectors, between 2005 and 2019, tracking hundreds of skills. From there, they differentiated between foundational skills (soft skills such as reading comprehension, mental arithmetic and the ability to work in a team) and more specialised, advanced skills (such as mastery of blockchain). They also looked at how these skills evolve over the course of a career.

The importance of soft skills was clear: those who excel in basic skills tend to have easier access to higher salaries, progress to positions of greater responsibility, learn specialised skills earlier and are more resilient to changes in their industry. In other words, soft skills are a solid foundation that accelerates learning and makes it easier to master more complex tasks over time.

To understand this, and to continue with the sports theme at the top of this article, just think about the NBA draft. Teams don't always go for the top college scorer: they tend to look for potential, players with fundamentals (speed, agility, ball control, vision) who may not stand out from day one, but who have real room to grow. It's a similar story in the world of work.

When we talk about soft skills in the workplace, we are referring to a set of competencies that directly influence how a person relates to their work and to others. 

Collaboration, for example, is no longer a desirable "extra", but an almost essential condition. Projects are rarely individual and challenges often require multiple perspectives. Knowing how to listen, negotiate, compromise and build together makes the difference between a team that moves forward and one that is blocked.

The evolving importance of soft skills is particularly evident in management positions. A recent large-scale analysis based on 34 million job postings for management positions in the US, plus millions of CVs and employee reviews, shows that since 2007, companies have tripled the weight of skills such as collaboration, coaching and influencing. In parallel, the language associated with more traditional supervision has steadily declined.

Something similar is happening with mathematical or analytical thinking, understood not only as the ability to handle numbers, but also as a way of reasoning: structuring problems, identifying patterns, making decisions based on data and not just on intuition. In a world saturated with information, this skill is especially valuable.

And there’s, of course, adaptability. The pandemic was an abrupt reminder of the extent to which plans can change from one day to the next. People who can readjust, learn new tools and redefine priorities without losing their emotional balance have become highly sought after.

Investing in soft skills development is not only a business strategy. It’s also a personal decision with long-term impact. From a professional point of view, these skills broaden employability opportunities, facilitate internal mobility and better prepare people to take on roles of greater responsibility.

But the benefits go beyond work. Improving communication or adaptability has direct effects on everyday life: healthier relationships, greater autonomy in decision-making and better stress management. In this sense, soft skills act as a bridge between the professional and the personal.

An OECD study on socio-emotional competencies shows that people who develop these skills tend to show higher levels of well-being and life satisfaction. A reminder that professional development does not have to be disconnected from human development.

The truth is that it is difficult to draw a clear line between who we are at work and who we are outside of work. Soft skills, precisely because of their cross-cutting nature, accompany people in all areas of their lives.

The empathy that’s practised in a meeting helps to improve coexistence. The ability to adapt to a professional change makes it easier to face personal changes. The critical thinking learned in a project helps to make more conscious decisions in day-to-day life.

Perhaps that’s why the conversation about the importance of soft skills is not limited to the labour market. It is about how we want to live within increasingly interdependent societies.