About the study

For the study, the authors examined U.S. labor market data from 2005 to 2019, capturing over 70 million job transitions across more than 1,000 occupations.

The authors organized hundreds of skills into two broad categories:

• Foundational abilities, which included reading comprehension, teamwork, problem-solving, and basic math
• Specialized, technical capabilities, which included Hadoop engineering and blockchain

When the authors tracked career outcomes over time, a clear pattern emerged. Workers who scored highly on foundational skills advanced further, earned more, learned new abilities quicker, and proved more resilient during periods of industry change than those who relied on narrow technical expertise.

"The presence and development of foundational skills didn't just make workers more competitive for entry-level jobs — they determined how far they could climb the career ladder," the authors write.

The authors likened it to the NBA draft: Teams don't always pick the top college scorers. Instead, they look for players with strong fundamentals — speed, agility, and ball control — that give them room to grow. The same logic applies in business.

Jane Street Capital, for example, hires people for raw quantitative ability rather than trading experience, betting that foundational math skills will help recruits learn quickly and succeed in the long term. By contrast, firms that prioritize only job-ready technical expertise may sacrifice adaptability and long-term performance.

Why it matters in today's work environment

The study's findings take on added weight in today's labor market, where the half-life of technical skills has shortened dramatically. In the 1980s, workers could expect their technical knowledge to remain relevant for about a decade. Today, that window has dropped to roughly four years, and some estimates suggest it could soon fall below two.

At the same time, social skills are growing increasingly valuable. David Deming's landmark study of U.S. jobs found that roles requiring a high level of social interaction grew by nearly 12 percentage points between 1980 and 2012, while math-heavy but low-interaction jobs declined. Wages followed the same pattern, with jobs blending cognitive ability and social skill commanding the highest premiums.

3 actions for leaders

The authors suggest three clear steps organizational leaders can take to future-proof their workforce:

1. Hire for potential, not just proficiency

Companies should screen for foundational strengths such as adaptability, problem-solving, and communication — even in technical roles. "In the long-run, candidates with a base of foundational skills will prove more valuable than those who have hyper-specialized knowledge but lack soft skills," the authors write.

2. Invest early in development

Because foundational skills are difficult to build later, organizations should provide early-career training in communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, not just technical proficiency. As the authors note, "someone struggling with math, for instance, won't become fluent through a few online tutorials; the same holds for social skills like critical thinking and empathy, which develop over years through school, peer interaction, and mentorship."

3. Model and reward soft-skill behaviors

Managers can reinforce these skills daily by recognizing thoughtful communication, collaborative problem-solving, and cross-functional learning. Practices like peer feedback, mentoring, and team retrospectives should be structured to highlight and reward soft-skill development.

In an era when specialized expertise may expire in just a few years, foundational skills are what last. Workers who excel at adaptability, communication, and problem-solving can ride out disruption and thrive in new roles.

For leaders, prioritizing these skills is not just good hiring practice — it's the foundation of a workforce built to grow with change.