Top skills employers are seeking in 2025: Are you prepared?
- What are companies looking for?
- A market on the rise
- Soft skills
- The most desired soft skill
- Empathetic workers
- Good communication and increased productivity
- Top of the list: communication and active listening
- Emotional intelligence
- Emotions in the corporate world
- What is emotional intelligence, anyway
- Resilience and focus
- Other important qualities
- Details about The Leadership Outlook survey
- How to demonstrate interpersonal skills?
- An exceptional professional
What are companies looking for?

In an increasingly dynamic job market, socioemotional skills have become prominent as essential workplace talents when companies are looking into hiring new employees.
A market on the rise

In the past, advancing in your career depended heavily on the technical abilities of each worker. Today, the focus is on behavioral skills, such as empathy, emotional intelligence, and adaptability.
Soft skills

These characteristics, labeled soft skills, facilitate collaboration between team members and groups, strengthen leadership, and contribute to a more innovative and productive work environment.
The most desired soft skill

According to the Leadership Outlook survey, carried out by the consulting firm Evermonte Institute, the most valuable soft skill in today's corporate world is the ability to communicate and listen actively.
Empathetic workers

This skill seems straightforward, but it requires full attention in an increasingly demanding environment. A leader who truly listens to their teams, understands different points of view, can avoid misunderstandings, resolve conflicts, and better engage employees.
Good communication and increased productivity

Plus, if a leader can communicate goals and needs, the entire team tends to align better, and productivity increases as a result.
Top of the list: communication and active listening

It is no wonder that “for 70.3% of the executives interviewed in the study, this is the most demanded skill in this year's hiring process”, said the director of the Evermonte Institute, Paulo Walendorff, and cited by the Brazilian publication 'Você S/A' magazine.
Emotional intelligence

With 69.4% of mentions in the survey, in the second place for most critical workplace skill is emotional intelligence.
Emotions in the corporate world

According to Forbes magazine, in an article by Rachel Wells, emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, control, and use emotions constructively, both your own and those of others.
What is emotional intelligence, anyway

This skill is so important that it drives almost all other soft skills. According to Wells, signs that you have emotional intelligence include active listening, empathy, resilience in the face of challenges, and a positive outlook on mistakes and professional development.
Resilience and focus

“Resilience” and “focus on results” also stood out among the most valued soft workplace skills in 2025, hitting the third and fourth spots in the ranking, indicated by 63.4% of those interviewed, according to Você S/A.
Other important qualities

Other skills identified as decisive in hiring processes in 2025 included acuity, critical thinking, decision-making, negotiation skills, flexibility, and creativity.
Details about The Leadership Outlook survey

The Leadership Outlook survey interviewed 320 executives in leadership positions from companies in all regions of Brazil.
How to demonstrate interpersonal skills?

It is worth highlighting previous professional experiences, specialized courses, and letters of recommendation as a way to demonstrate interpersonal skills to employers.
An exceptional professional

American expert Stephen R. Covey, quoted by the BBC, explained that soft skills “are the real difference between a competent professional and an exceptional leader.” Covey added: “By developing these skills, we connect with others on a deeper and more authentic level, enabling us to positively influence others and achieve exceptional results.”