On average, one in three skills requested in job postings is a “baseline skill.”

Baseline skills are in high demand by employers, although the proportion depends on the particular industry. Even in the most technical career areas (such as IT, Healthcare, and Engineering), more than a quarter of all talent requirements are for baseline skills. How those skills are related to an industry might differ, as do the need abilities of the job role applicant, but the baseline definition remains constant.

Baseline skills aren’t limited to “people skills.”

Certainly, skills like customer service and organizational skills appear across the board in job postings, but so do talents like writing, as well as knowledge of specific software packages like Microsoft Word and Excel.