The top 10 skills that will be in demand by all employers by 2020

Reuters/Robert Galbraith

In fewer than four years, employers will seek employees with very different skill sets than they do today.

In fact, on average more than one third of the desired skill sets of most occupations will be comprised of skills that are not yet considered important to the job today, according to a recent report from the World Economic Forum.

The report, called “The Future of Jobs,” surveyed executives from more than 350 employers across nine industries in 15 of the world’s largest economies to come up with predictions about how technological advancements will force the labor markets to evolve.

Here’s a look at the top 10 skill sets respondents said will be most in demand by 2020.

10. Cognitive flexibility will continue to be an important skill.

Cognitive flexibility is the ability of being able to think about multiple concepts simultaneously. 

It wasn't even a skill in demand in 2015, but will become more important during the next four years. 

According to the report, respondents said that a wide range of jobs will require a higher level of cognitive abilities—which include creativity, logical reasoning, and problem sensitivity—as part of the core skill set.  

9. Negotiation skills will still be in demand.

In general, social skills are going to become ever more important in the workforce. This makes sense because social skills are still something that, at least for the time being, are uniquely human. 

By 2020, negotiation skills will particularly be in high demand in computer and mathematical jobs, such as data analysts and software developers, according to the report. 

It will also be key skill in the arts and design job category, which includes commercial and industrial designers. 

8. Service orientation skills will be important.

Service orientation is defined in the report as actively looking for ways to help others and it also falls under the social skills umbrella. 

According to recent research paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, strong social skills will continue to become more important as robots and automation take more jobs. 

"The reason is that computers are still very poor at simulating human interaction. Reading the minds of others and reacting is an unconscious process, and skill in social settings has evolved in humans over thousands of years. Human interaction in the workplace involves team production, with workers playing off of each other’s strengths and adapting flexibly to changing circumstances. Such nonroutine interaction is at the heart of the human advantage over machines," the paper states.