Updated: This article has been updated to attribute the response from Southwest to Greg Muccio, managing director, talent acquisition.
Google says it values social-emotional skills just as much as technical talent. Microsoft makes the case that the top skills necessary to navigate complexity and change in the age of AI remain uniquely human and social. And Southwest Airlines looks specifically for employees who are persistent, service-minded, and treat others with respect.
Senior executives from some of the nation’s biggest industries say schools can play a major role in supplying the future workforce not only with the technical skills that help them stand out in a crowded field of job candidates, but also with the social and emotional skills they’ll need to conduct themselves responsibly once they’ve entered the workplace.
They say that instruction that prioritizes social-emotional learning can help students understand how to conduct themselves in professional environments; how to interact with different types of people; and how to manage the turbulent and unpredictable emotions that often arise in the workplace.
Several research studies are underway to more precisely document the links between social-emotional learning and economic success later in life. These skills are even showing up in some states’ efforts to develop “portraits of a graduate” that guide students’ learning experiences.
Education Week reached out to senior executives from some of the nation’s biggest employers to find out which social-emotional skills they believe are crucial for succeeding at their companies, and in the workforce at large.
We asked them these two questions: Soft skills are a growing focus of instruction in many K-12 classrooms. What soft skills do you hope to see from job candidates entering the workforce? How can schools help K-12 students develop those skills to prepare for workplace success?
Here are their responses, which have been edited for length and clarity:
At Google, we have some of the most technically impressive people I’ve ever met, but what’s equally important here are social-emotional skills. The world needs more people who can navigate complex challenges with both intelligence and empathy. Here’s some traits my teammates and I prize whether for Google or beyond. These are also well explored by programs like CASEL [Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning]:
- Self-awareness and self-management: At many companies, employees are often expected to lead projects independently and manage their own time effectively. This requires the ability to step outside of just your own world and think about how you relate to the bigger picture. This is extremely important at Google where most employees have high autonomy to achieve their goals.
- Social awareness and relationship skills: No one at Google builds a product alone. Our teams are often distributed globally, requiring Googlers to communicate clearly, respect diverse perspectives, and build strong relationships. Imagine a team designing a new feature for Google Maps—they need to understand user needs from around the world and work together effectively to create a product that benefits everyone.
- Responsible decisionmaking: No matter where you work, it’s likely your job has some impact on other people, whether big or small. How you go about that matters and being able to work with empathy in service to those you build for helps you positively impact people’s lives far beyond our own personal bubbles. For example, at Google, our AI researchers must constantly evaluate the responsible use of artificial intelligence and ensure it aligns with our values of fairness and inclusivity.
To help build these skills, schools can:
- Integrate SEL into the curriculum: Programs like CASEL provide a framework for teaching self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decisionmaking.
- Provide opportunities for collaboration and problem-solving: Project-based learning, group discussions, and student leadership roles can all help develop these skills.
- Create a supportive and inclusive school climate: This fosters a sense of belonging and encourages students to take risks and learn from mistakes.
By equipping students with these essential skills, schools are not only preparing them for potential careers at Google but also empowering them to become thoughtful, responsible, and successful contributors to the world.
Microsoft
Social-emotional skills are crucial to ensuring students are set up for success—both in the classroom and in their future careers. Our emotions act as gatekeepers to cognition, motivation, and attention, and [they] impact how we navigate our own thoughts and actions and interact with the world around us.
These skills have lifelong impact, with the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] noting: “Social and emotional skills—such as self-control, stress resistance, cooperation, sociability, and curiosity—are competencies that support key life outcomes, including health and well-being, academic achievement, and job performance.”
The world of work is being fundamentally changed by AI. However, the top skills required to navigate complexity and change remain uniquely human with emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility, and communication referenced as top skills leaders believe will be essential for employees in an AI-powered future. Young people need this blend of social-emotional, technical, [foundational], and higher-order skills.
Schools can help students to flourish with free tools such as Reflect, which expands emotional vocabulary and develops self awareness and self regulation, as well as inspiring educator courses on Microsoft Learn.
Southwest
Some of the most essential skills we look for in candidates are communication, teamwork, leadership, relationship-building, pride, reliability, and dependability. We believe the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back and want candidates to understand and model The Southwest Way and our values for conducting themselves, interacting with others, and succeeding together.
Southwest Airlines believes educated communities are empowered communities and that every student should receive opportunities to follow their educational dreams. Partnering with companies and nonprofits that offer activities to help students become people-centric and build confidence in themselves, such as mentorships and immersive experiences, aligns with our mission to inspire future generations to find careers within the airline industry. An example is our Adopt-A-Pilot program, designed to spark an interest in STEM fields with 5th-grade students through mentorship or Girls in Aviation activations across the country, where young aviation enthusiasts can connect with and learn more about the aviation field with Southwest employees. We also offer a summer High School Internship Program in Dallas, Texas, for local high school students to learn about Southwest’s values while exploring different career paths. Other opportunities to explore workplace success include virtual job chats where Southwest employees share possible career paths in the aviation industry (including their own!), part-time contract work for high schoolers to gain hands-on experience, and more.
Breeze Airways
Throughout our educational journeys, it seems we grow less and less comfortable with asking questions. As kindergartners, we’re curious about everything, truly wanting to discover and learn more. However, by the time we graduate high school, that drive to pursue our curiosity wanes. It’s not that the questions go away—we simply become more hesitant to ask them, perhaps because we’re afraid of being the only one with a question or fear it will invite the judgment of others.
In a world ripe with innovation and technology, there are no bad questions because curiosity cultivates creativity. The most successful employees and job candidates will be those who are the most curious—constantly asking questions about how things are done and how things would be different if something were to change. Companies like Breeze, which are invested in driving change in their industries benefit greatly from the kind of critical thinking that identifies problems and breeds new ideas and methods for solving them.
A great way for schools to foster that curiosity and encourage questions would be to facilitate more real-world experiences that interest students. Anyone can go a mile deep with questions on a topic that inspires them, promoting the practical problem solving and critical thinking skills students will need as they enter the workforce. By fostering more opportunities for students to see, feel, and experience different real-world problems early on, we inspire the next generation to approach problems directly and more easily identify the puzzles that need solving.
Fortinet (a cybersecurity firm)
Soft skills such as situational awareness and problem solving under pressure, along with qualities like leadership, analytical ability, and interpersonal skills, are crucial for those entering the workforce. The evolution of the K-12 curriculum to focus on soft skill instruction and training is critically important, as it empowers students with transferable skills and helps prepare them for successful careers in a variety of fields.
Soft skills are particularly important in the cybersecurity field with a shortage of 4.8 million cybersecurity professionals worldwide, presenting various opportunities to pursue a career in this industry. Increasingly, organizations identify candidates who possess strong soft skills and then use certifications to help new employees gain cybersecurity-specific knowledge or to reskill current employees for cybersecurity roles. In fact, 89 percent of respondents to the Fortinet2024 Skills Gap Global Report said they would pay for an employee to obtain a certification, reinforcing the criticality of possessing and honing soft skills.
Educational institutions can leverage free resources from government agencies such as the Department of Labor that provide age-appropriate learning materials and activity guides focused on soft skill development.
To offer students career-based training for a booming field like cybersecurity, educators can look at security awareness and cybersecurity training resources from trusted IT and security firms. For example, at Fortinet, we offer free-of-cost security awareness training resources tailored to students in primary and secondary school, empowering them to become more cyber-informed and helping them develop valuable skills for careers in cybersecurity.
