Receptivity and adaptability increasingly in demand
This month saw a shift in the types of skills employers are seeking. There was a pivot away from thinking skills and toward more personal characteristics and attitude. So, instead of leadership and problem solving, we see professional attitude, receptivity, and dedication topping the list. Many of the skills on this month’s list suggest that hiring managers are prioritizing employees who can work in teams, take feedback, and respond well to change – all while working hard and staying calm.
Smaller organizations looking to increase hiring
April saw an increase in job openings across organizations of all sizes. However, job openings with small organizations, which have been on the decline, picked up this month, with openings at companies with fewer than 10 employees now making up 22.5% of total openings, the highest percentage since late 2024. And the shift seems to be away from the largest employers, which now account for less than 9% of available jobs. This aligns with recent lay-off announcements by many large companies.
Methodology
Market IQ collects job postings daily from over 7 million+ websites in the U.S. Our system automatically identifies, extracts, and structures job data into 100+ attributes using Textkernel’s AI powered parsing technology. Each posting is normalized against professional taxonomies, enriched with company information, and deduplicated using sophisticated algorithms to identify unique job opportunities. The system maintains high levels of accuracy through automated quality controls and continuous improvement processes, making it a trusted source for U.S. labor market insights.
Skills
Market IQ utilizes Textkernel’s proprietary Skills Normalization Taxonomy (SNT) to extract and normalize skills from job postings. Our taxonomy encompasses 13,200+ unique skill concepts mapped through 250,000+ terms, covering professional skills, IT skills, soft skills, and languages. Using advanced machine learning, the system identifies skills in context, disambiguates ambiguous terms, and normalizes them to standardized concepts—enabling accurate cross-market analysis regardless of how employers phrase skill requirements. The taxonomy is continuously updated quarterly based on millions of job postings, market feedback, and labor market trends. This data-driven approach ensures Market IQ captures both established and emerging skills as they appear in the U.S. job market, providing unparalleled insights into skill demand across industries and regions. All analysis of skills excludes any skills that appear in fewer than 10,000 job descriptions.
