What Companies Are Looking for in Today’s Talent Market

Oct 1

The way companies evaluate talent is changing. Relevant experience remains an important part of hiring decisions, but employers are placing greater emphasis on the skills and capabilities professionals can demonstrate and how those capabilities translate into performance.

At the same time, technology is reshaping both the work people perform and the capabilities organizations value. As AI takes on more execution, qualities such as judgment, adaptability, communication, leadership, and digital fluency are taking on greater importance across the talent market.

For companies, this is changing how candidates are assessed. The focus is moving beyond degrees, job titles, and traditional career paths toward a clearer understanding of what people can do, how they think, and how effectively they can apply their experience in changing business environments.

The Market Is Becoming More Skill-Focused

Relevant experience and demonstrated skills are now among the leading factors employers consider in hiring decisions. SHRM Foundation research found that relevant work experience and demonstrated skills and competencies ranked among the most important considerations when organizations evaluate candidates. (SHRM Foundation, February 2026)

This reflects a broader change in how professional backgrounds are being assessed. Employers are placing greater emphasis on skills rather than relying primarily on degrees, job titles, or linear career paths. LinkedIn’s 2026 research similarly points to a shift toward evaluating what candidates can actually do rather than using traditional credentials as the primary indicator of capability. (LinkedIn News, February 2026)

Workforce planning is moving in the same direction. As organizations respond to changing business requirements and the adoption of AI, demand is growing for both people-centered and AI-related skills. McKinsey’s 2026 research highlights a broader shift toward capabilities, reinforcing the importance of understanding the skills organizations need rather than focusing only on roles and headcount. (McKinsey & Company, June 2026)

The shift is therefore not away from experience. Experience still matters, but companies are becoming more precise about what that experience has developed. For hiring decisions, the value of a professional background increasingly depends on the capabilities, expertise, and practical skills a candidate can bring to the role.

Judgment Is Becoming More Valuable

As AI takes on more execution work, human judgment is becoming more important in evaluating information and making decisions. Technology can support the execution of tasks, but the ability to assess the quality of information, determine priorities, and decide how that information should be used remains distinctly important.

Microsoft’s 2026 Work Trend Index reinforces this shift. When AI users were asked which human skills become more important as AI takes on more work, 50% identified quality control of AI output. Critical thinking was another leading response, reflecting the growing importance of evaluating and refining AI-generated work rather than treating it as a final answer. (Microsoft, May 2026) Microsoft

The same pattern appears at the organizational level. Fifty-seven percent of CHROs identify critical thinking and problem framing among the skills that matter most in the AI era. As AI becomes more integrated into the workplace, organizations are placing greater value on the ability to frame problems correctly, evaluate information, and apply judgment before decisions are made. (IBM Institute for Business Value, September 2026)

For employers, this places greater emphasis on professionals who can question, interpret, prioritize, and turn information into sound decisions. The ability to access information is becoming less differentiating on its own; what matters more is how effectively professionals evaluate that information and use it in their work.

Adaptability Matters More

The pace of change is also making adaptability a more important workforce capability. According to Deloitte, 85% of leaders say it is critical to build the organization’s and workforce’s ability to adapt at the speed required today. (Deloitte, March 2026) Deloitte

Yet the pace of workforce development is not always keeping up with the pace of technology adoption. While 55% of workers regularly use AI, only 33% have participated in employer-provided AI training during the previous six months. The gap illustrates how quickly employees are being asked to work with new tools compared with the formal training available to support them. (The Conference Board, July 2026) The Conference Board

For companies, this increases the value of professionals who can learn quickly, transfer experience across different situations, and respond effectively as requirements change. Experience remains valuable, but professionals also need to be able to apply what they know when tools, processes, or business conditions evolve.

Adaptability is therefore becoming less of a supporting skill and more of a requirement for long-term performance. In a talent market shaped by continuous technological and organizational change, the ability to learn and adjust is becoming an important part of how companies evaluate professional capability.

Communication Remains Relevant

As technology becomes a larger part of everyday work, communication remains a central professional capability. LinkedIn’s 2026 research identifies Executive & Stakeholder Communications among the fastest-growing skill areas in the U.S., alongside leadership, people management, and AI-related capabilities. (LinkedIn News, February 2026) Gráfico Econômico do LinkedIn

Communication becomes particularly important when professionals work across teams, functions, and levels of seniority. Research involving more than 10,000 professionals also highlights the importance of effective collaboration, particularly for senior leaders whose responsibilities require them to work through and with others. (Harvard Business Review, September 2026) Harvard Business Review

For companies, this creates demand for professionals who can communicate clearly, align stakeholders, and explain complex ideas in practical business terms. Technical or functional knowledge remains important, but its impact also depends on whether professionals can communicate that expertise effectively to the people involved in making or executing decisions.

Expertise creates more value when it can influence decisions and contribute to business outcomes. As roles become more interconnected, the ability to work across functions and communicate with different stakeholders remains an important part of professional effectiveness.

Technology Is Redefining the Skills Employers Value

Technology is not simply creating demand for new technical skills. It is also changing the broader mix of capabilities organizations value. More than 80% of surveyed workplace groups believe AI will change which skills organizations prioritize, demonstrating how widely employers and employees expect technology to reshape workforce requirements. (SHRM Foundation, February 2026)

AI adoption also reveals a significant development gap. Only 25% of workers regularly use AI as part of their jobs, even though 83% of CEOs say AI success depends more on people’s adoption than on the technology itself. For organizations, the challenge is therefore not limited to acquiring new technology; people must also be able to use it effectively in their work. (IBM Institute for Business Value, May 2026) IBM

Within this environment, digital fluency is becoming part of professional capability rather than a separate technical advantage. The ability to work with new tools is becoming more closely connected to how professionals perform their existing responsibilities, apply their expertise, and respond to changes in how work is done.

The strongest hires combine functional expertise with the ability to use new tools, continue learning, and apply technology to real business problems. Digital capability does not replace professional expertise; it increasingly sits alongside it as part of the broader set of capabilities employers consider.

Leadership Is Expanding

Leadership capabilities are also becoming relevant across a broader range of roles. PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer found that the most AI-exposed junior roles are seven times more likely than the least AI-exposed junior roles to require capabilities traditionally associated with senior positions, including leadership. (PwC, June 2026) PwC

This shift is occurring as AI takes on more execution work. McKinsey identifies several elements of leadership that remain distinctly human: setting direction, making difficult decisions, building trust among stakeholders, and holding people accountable. As technology handles more tasks, these capabilities become an increasingly important part of how people create value within organizations. (McKinsey & Company, January 2026) McKinsey & Company

Leadership today is therefore not defined only by formal management responsibility. Professionals can demonstrate leadership through how they approach decisions, take responsibility, work with others, and move priorities forward, even when they do not hold traditional management positions.

Initiative, ownership, accountability, and the ability to move decisions forward are becoming stronger indicators of potential. As expectations change across levels of seniority, companies are looking not only at what candidates have managed in the past, but also at the leadership capabilities their experience has developed.

What This Means for Hiring

Experience still matters, but employers are becoming more precise about what that experience should demonstrate.

Strong candidates combine judgment, adaptability, communication, leadership, ownership, expertise, and digital fluency. As technology changes how work is performed, technical and human capabilities are becoming more interconnected rather than operating as separate areas of professional value.

For companies, effective talent evaluation means looking beyond titles to understand how someone thinks, learns, communicates, and creates value.

Finding Talent That Creates Value

At 42, we help companies find the talent that can create meaningful, lasting value.

References

SHRM Foundation. The Skills-First Movement: Redefining How Organizations Hire and Grow. February 2026. SHRM
LinkedIn News. Skills on the Rise: The Fastest-Growing Skills in 2026. February 2026. LinkedIn News
McKinsey & Company. HR Monitor 2026: A Turning Point for the People Function. June 2026. McKinsey & Company
Microsoft. 2026 Work Trend Index Annual Report: Agents, Human Agency, and the Opportunity for Every Organization. May 2026. Microsoft
IBM Institute for Business Value. Rewiring the C-suite: The Fast Track to 2030. May 2026. IBM
IBM Institute for Business Value. The 2026 CHRO Study: Designing the Thinking Organization. September 2026. IBM
Deloitte. 2026 Global Human Capital Trends. March 2026. Deloitte
The Conference Board. Most Organizations Are Preparing Workers for Today’s AI, Not Tomorrow’s Jobs. July 2026. The Conference Board
Harvard Business Review. You Think You’re a Good Collaborator. Do the People You Manage Agree? September 2026. Harvard Business Review
PwC. 2026 AI Jobs Barometer: Two Futures for Jobs in an AI Era. June 2026. PwC
McKinsey & Company. Building Leaders in the Age of AI. January 2026. McKinsey & Company