Automation and artificial intelligence will result in a greater proportion of jobs relying on soft skills.  Traditional skills like teamwork, communication and critical thinking will be more important than ever.

Soft skills such as emotional intelligence are hard to automate and unlikely to become automated anytime soon.  This means they’re expected to become more desirable in the near future.

If you and another candidate have the exact same list of hard skills, hiring managers will make a decision based on factors outside of experience and training. In many cases, the deciding factor will be related to soft skills, and the hiring manager will hire the candidate with more soft skills. 

Job seekers with a short list of hard skills may still be able to get the job by focusing on their soft skills.  Many hiring managers are willing to find great candidates that have a long list of soft skills and train them on the hard skills they need.