Employers' view on studies abroad - Svenskt Näringsliv

Results 17
Companies are convinced that communicative skills will become even more important in the
future. Social skills and ability to interact with others also rank high. Worth noticing is that some
skills that rank low or very low in a recruitment situation today – such as language skills and intercultural
competence – are ranked a lot higher in what is considered to become important in 10-15
years. There are also differences based on the size of the company. Larger companies are more
inclined to consider communicative skills as becoming important in 10-15 years than smaller companies,
who in turn believe responsibility will become more important.
Authorities also believe communicative skills will become more important in the future, and in
general are more prone to believe that skills that are in some way “international” will become more
important.
Figure 13 – Are there any personal skills in employees that will become increasingly important in the coming
10-15 years? If so, which? (authorities)
Communicative skills
Intercultural competence
Language skills – English
Problem solving capacity
Language skills – other languages
Social skills
Momentum[/endurance]
Leadership skills
Analytical skills
Stress handling capacity
Knowledge of relevant subject
Flexibility
Ability to handle customers
Creativity
Tolerance
Initiative skill
Responsibility
Self-confidence
Ambition
12%
12%
28%
27%
27%
27%
25%
25%
24%
23%
21%
18%
32%
32%
39%
38%
44%
50%
55%
0% 20% 40% 60%
Communicative skills is still considered the most important skill in the future, but immediately
following are a number of “international” skills, among them intercultural competence and language
skills (both English and other languages).
4.4 Which skills do students develop during studies abroad?
Employers were also asked to rate which skills/qualities they believe students develop during studies
abroad. The questions that were asked were the same as in the previous two sections. Among
companies, language skills and intercultural competence scored highest, followed by communicative
skills, flexibility and self-confidence. The <strong>view</strong> that students do not develop any skills at all is
uncommon, though analytical skills ranks lowest among the alternatives given to employers in the
survey.
Svenskt Näringsliv