Abstract:

The current paper discusses the weight and influence of 21st-century skills, emphasizing the changing nature of soft skills in terms of labor markets’ demands. As labor markets are primarily affected by the rapid technological advances and the pressure of global competition, as well as the recent energy, health and climate challenges, it is apparent that both employers and employees are seeking effective ways to survive, improve and flourish. As a result, recent academic literature and various international reports indicate significant studies on the correlation between human skills and job performance, productivity and reduction of social inequalities. Accordingly, the present paper focuses on two parts. The first part refers to a brief literature review of skills’ importance in conjunction with employability issues.

The second part presents trifold research in Greece that took place among:
a) human resources executives,
b) innovative enterprises’ CEOs, and
c) current employees or/and job-seeking graduates.

The objectives of the research are to combine the views and experiences of human resource executives, successful CEOs and employees/future employees to form the current landscape of employability and skills in demand and supply in Greece. The methodology was based on mixed methods research, as the study included both qualitative and quantitative data. The research findings include the skill mix in demand and supply as well as the soft and digital skills in demand and supply in the current Greek labor market. Additionally, several variables were examined, such as reskilling and upskilling activities, ways of evaluating soft skills, reasons for skills withdrawal, level of digital skills, skills in demand according to employability sector, level of skills in relation to financial and social rewards or promotions, specific skills as an indicator of job performance, chosen and preferred ways of soft skills training, level of ICT used and how it affects human capital strategies, etc. The results could be useful in a variety of stakeholders, as they might contribute to the current think tanks, and the formation of functional changes in socio-economic sections, such as education and training policies or “on-the-job” training policies, whose conceptions are gradually moving from supply-based approaches towards demand-led and competence-based structures. In addition, the conclusions hope to contribute to the coordination of the new skills in demand among employees and job seekers, as they provide helpful information about the most in-demand skills needed to achieve sustainable employability and minimize social gaps. Consequently, the findings concern both the recruitment in HRM and the proactive management of skills within companies, changing the content of HRM duties.

Keywords:

Skills, 21st century skills, soft skills, digital skills, labor markets, employment, education and training, education and economic development.