Blockchain tops Linkedin list of in-demand hard skills for 2020

In Linkedin's annual survey of the most in-demand hard and soft skills, Blockchain has emerged as the top priority hard-skill for employers hiring in the US, UK, France, Germany and Australia.

After Blockchain was entirely absent from Linkedin's 2019 survey, Linkedin explains Blockchain's surge to the top of the list by noting that:

Blockchain has become a line of business for a who’s who of the corporate world — IBM, Oracle, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft (LinkedIn’s parent company), Amazon, and American Express, to name just a few.

The companies identified by Linkedin barely scratch the surface, with mainstream companies such as Visa, EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PWC, Facebook, Accenture, the ASX and many others all seeking candidates with experience in blockchain. At the same time, companies like Binance, Coinbase and Chainalysis continue to go from strength to strength, growing their teams significantly over the past 2 years.

Linkedin also acknowledges Blockchain's divisiveness, stating that:

Advocates see it as a secure, decentralized, and cost- and time-efficient way to transparently track shipments and transactions of all kinds. Skeptics, and there are many, raise concerns about the lack of standardized protocols, scalability, and excessive energy use

The full list of the most in-demand hard skills was as follows:

1. Blockchain

2. Cloud computing

3. Analytical reasoning

4. Artificial intelligence

5. UX design

6. Business analysis

7. Affiliate marketing

8. Sales

9. Scientific computing

10. Video production

Linkedin determines the most in-demand skills by looking at skills that are in high demand with limited supply. Demand is measured through Linkedin by identifying the skills listed on LinkedIn profiles of people who are getting hired at the highest rates. Only cities with 100,000 LinkedIn members are included in the analysis.