This is how Kate Davidson titled her article for the August 30, 2016 issue of the Wall Street Journal.  Quoting her, Companies across the United States say it is becoming increasingly difficult to find potential employees who can communicate clearly, solve problems autonomously, take initiative, and work well with others.  These soft skills often mean the difference between an average employee and an exemplary one, and while these skills have always been important, shifts in the economy have made them critical now. . . In fact, in a survey conducted by the WSJ last year, 92% of the 900 executives polled said that soft skills were equally important or even more important than technical skills . . . Slightly fewer – 89% – said they had a very difficult time or somewhat difficult time locating qualified applicants with the requisite skills and personality attributes.

Training plans for these and many more soft technical skills are available from Lesson-Up.net.