Revealed: The employee skills that were in most-demand in 2015

The most sought-after job skills in Canada last year have been revealed, and one particular skill has remained at the top of the list for a second year

The most sought-after job skills in Canada last year have been revealed, and one particular skill remained at the top of the list for a second year in a row.
 
Data compiled by professional networking site LinkedIn shows ‘statistical analysis and data mining’ is the most sought-after skill in Canada.
 
This was followed by ‘middleware and integration software’ and ‘storage systems and management’, topping the website’s ‘25 Hottest Skills’ list.
 
LinkedIn combined data on the skills candidates listed on profiles as well as recruitment activity on the website to arrive at its hottest skills list.
 
It found ‘cloud and distributed computing’ to be the most sought-after skill of on a global level, although it was notably absent from Canada’s top 25.
 
‘Statistical analysis and data mining’ and ‘ marketing campaign management’ were the second and third most sought-after skills around the world.
 
LinkedIn said in commentary surrounding the data release that 2015 was the year cloud skills became a prominent and mainstream global skill.
 
LinkedIn researcher Sohan Murthy said in 2014 cloud and distributed computing skills did not even appear in the list, indicating fast growth.
 
Another key trend was that data skills remained high in demand, a fact backed up by Canada’s most sought-after skills in 2014 and 2015.
 
Many new skills not listed in 2014 entered Canada’s 2015 list. A LinkedIn spokesperson told CTV News this was a result of a growing demand for STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math skills worldwide.
 
"These skills include software revision control systems, shell scripting languages, and software modeling and process. Likewise, employers are looking less for skills like recruiting and foreign language translation.”
 
LinkedIn’s acknowledges its membership includes more workers with advanced degrees, which could skew the overall results towards more professional skills. However, it says it’s user base is getting broader.
 
Canada’s ‘25 Hottest Skills’ for 2015
 
1)        Statistical analysis and data mining
2)        Middleware and integration software
3)        Storage systems and management
4)        Software revision control systems
5)        Web architecture and development frameworks
6)        Mobile development
7)        Network and information security
8)        Mac, Linux and Unix systems
9)        Data engineering and data warehousing
10)      Java development
11)      User interface design
12)      Perl/Python/Ruby
13)      Shell scripting languages
14)      SAP ERP systems
15)      Materials engineering
16)      Electronic and electrical engineering
17)      Software modelling and process design
18)      Software QA and user testing
19)      Algorithm design
20)      Business intelligence
21)      Microsoft application development
22)      Integrated circuit (IC) design
23)      Computer graphics and animation
24)      Economics
25)      C/C++
 
Source: LinkedIn

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