Fancy degrees won’t save you: LinkedIn CEO reveals the skills employers will demand in future

LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky (Image Credit: linkedin.com)

Gone are the days when a degree from a prestigious university guaranteed a high-paying job—or even a career at all. LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky is sending a wake-up call to the younger generation: the global job market is shifting rapidly, and traditional diplomas are no longer the golden ticket. Instead, practical skills, especially those tied to artificial intelligence, are becoming the new currency of employability.

Roslansky emphasizes that this change is not isolated to a few tech companies, it’s happening across industries. Employers are increasingly prioritizing candidates who can adapt quickly, learn new tools, and keep up with technological advances. “It really kind of opens up the playing field in a way that we have never seen before,” he said.

Supporting this shift, a recent Microsoft survey revealed that 71% of business leaders would prefer hiring a less experienced candidate with AI expertise over a more seasoned applicant without it. Shockingly, 66% said they would not hire someone lacking AI skills at all.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn reported a 70% surge in job listings requiring AI literacy in just one year, signaling that AI knowledge is quickly moving from “nice-to-have” to mandatory for career survival.

But AI skills alone are not enough. Roslansky warns that technical know-how must be paired with human skills like communication, empathy, and adaptability. “People who embrace AI will replace those who don’t, but knowing how to talk to chatbots won’t be enough,” he said.

He added, “The human component is, quite frankly, going to be most people’s secret weapon. Empathy, communication, adaptability, being able to actually just have a conversation with someone, don’t forget these skills. They are critical to being successful in anything that you are trying to do moving forward.”

In his message, Roslansky was clear - the future of work belongs not to the people with the fanciest degrees, but to those who are adaptable, forward-thinking, and ready to embrace AI and emerging tools.