The world of work is changing. Fast. As technology reshapes every industry, the skills employers need are shifting too. LinkedIn reports that 70% of today’s job skills will be different by 2030. That’s not a trend. It’s a transformation.
But through all the change, one thing remains essential: creativity. It fuels problem-solving, adaptability, communication, and almost everything else today’s workers need to thrive.
Last week, LinkedIn released its list of the 15 fastest-growing skills in the U.S. for 2025. You won’t see “creativity” listed. But look closer, and it’s the force behind every one of the 15 skills mentioned.
Let’s break it down. Here’s how creativity powers each of LinkedIn’s top 15 skills:
1. AI Literacy
Understanding artificial intelligence isn’t just about knowing the tools. It’s about knowing how to use them creatively and responsibly. Prompting an AI tool effectively requires clarity, experimentation, and imagination.
2. Conflict Mitigation
Resolving conflict isn’t just about calming people down. It’s about finding new ways forward. Creative thinkers don’t just de-escalate conflict. They reimagine what progress looks like. Research shows that students engaged in the arts develop stronger emotional regulation and social-emotional skills.
3. Adaptability
Adaptability thrives on creative thinking. It’s what turns challenges into new paths forward. Every time a young person improvises or experiments, they’re practicing resilience. Creative play has been linked to long-term cognitive flexibility and adaptability.
4. Process Optimization
Streamlining systems takes more than analysis. It takes imagination. Creative problem-solvers see what others miss and find more efficient ways forward.
5. Innovative Thinking
This one is the heart of it all. Innovation is simply creativity applied. It’s the leap that leads to a better solution, a new product, or a different way of seeing. It’s how new ideas become real impact.
6. Public Speaking
Telling a compelling story is what great speakers do. And that’s what creativity teaches: how to connect with others, organize ideas, and bring emotion and meaning to your message.
7. Solution-Based Selling
Sales is about solving problems and doing it in a way that feels personal and human. Creative thinkers are better at imagining solutions and building trust.
8. Customer Engagement & Support
People want to feel heard. Creative professionals know how to tailor their responses, adapt to emotion, and respond authentically, which are all key in customer-facing roles.
9. Stakeholder Management
Balancing priorities and perspectives across a team or organization? That takes creative diplomacy. It’s not about pleasing everyone. It’s about finding shared ground. Teams that use creative collaboration approaches experience higher satisfaction and better outcomes.
10. Large Language Model (LLM) Development & Application
Even the most technical areas of AI rely on human creativity. Training a language model means understanding how people think, speak, and create meaning.
11. Budget & Resource Management
Being creative with limited resources isn’t a trend. It’s a necessity. When budgets shrink, creativity becomes the most valuable tool in the toolbox.
12. Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy
Launching a product isn’t just logistics. It’s narrative, design, and vision. Creativity is the key to creating campaigns that connect and inspire action.
13. Regulatory Compliance
Working within the rules still leaves room for smart, strategic, and creative thinking. Innovators find ways to move forward while staying aligned with legal and ethical guidelines.
14. Growth Strategy
Sustainable growth isn’t just about doing more. It’s about doing better. Creativity helps leaders imagine new markets, new partnerships, and new ways to serve.
15. Risk Assessment
Imagining what might go wrong and how to prepare is itself a creative act. Scenario planning and strategic forecasting both require vision and imagination.
Creativity builds the skills of the future, and the future starts now.
We’re experiencing a major societal transformation. The way we live, work, and connect is changing faster than ever, and the skills that matter most are those that help us adapt, imagine, and create new paths forward.
Creativity is not a luxury. It’s workforce development. It’s future-readiness. It’s how we build a stronger, more human world.
For 50 years, COMPAS has brought participatory creative experiences into schools, libraries, workplaces, parks, theaters, community centers, and any other environment imaginable. Our professional teaching artists help people of all ages tap into their imaginations and build the skills today’s world demands: collaboration, problem-solving, adaptability, communication, and innovation.
If you’re preparing students for the future, strengthening your team, or reimagining what your community can be, let’s work together.
Let’s build a creative future. Together.
Want to learn more about COMPAS and how we can bring creativity to your school, organization, business, community center, library, and ANYWHERE ELSE? We’ve got you. Reach out here.
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