The World’s largest professional network on the Internet, LinkedIn Corporation, have today unveiled the Top Skills of 2016 — the skills that are most sought after among Global employers, employers in Ireland and 17 other countries.

Cloud and Distributed Computing topped the Irish list for the second year in a row – it was also the most in demand skill globally.

The annual list is developed by analysing all of the recruiting activity on LinkedIn since January and uncovers several trends about the Irish job market. Demand remains high for tech skills like Cloud Distributed Computing (No. 1) as well as Statistical Analysis and Data Mining (No. 2). This is due to the fact that tech skills are no longer confined to the tech industry, they are needed in nearly every industry and county in the country.

Ireland’s economic recovery is evident from the increased demand for marketing and recruitment skills.  One of the skills that experienced a spike in hiring activity was recruitment which was in response to firms expanding during the year.

Similarly, professionals with marketing skills have been heavily in demand in 2016, with Marketing Campaign Management joining the list of the top ten skills for the first time.

Senior HR Director at LinkedIn EMEA, Wendy Murphy says, “While we see job applications spike on LinkedIn in October, we know companies aren’t actually hiring at the same rate until January. While some skills expire every couple of years, our data highlights the ongoing demand for tech skills across every industry in Ireland.”

She added, “While this is good news for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math graduates, professionals going back to further education should consider these areas when considering which skills to acquire in order to be more marketable.”

The Irish Top Skills of 2016 are:

1) Cloud and Distributed Computing (no change)
2) Statistical Analysis and Data Mining (no change)
3) Web Architecture and Development Framework (up three places from 2015)
4) Network and Information Security (up one place from 2015)
5) SEO/SEM Marketing (fell two places since 2015)
6) Marketing Campaign Management (new entry)
7) Software Revision Control Systems (up three places from 2015)
8) Middleware and Integration Software (fell four places since 2015)
9) Mobile Development (fell one place since 2015)
10) Recruiting (up six places from 2015)

Article Source: Business World