We are living in a fourth industrial revolution – millions of jobs in sectors as diverse as transportation, manufacturing, and retail have the potential of being automated. A recent report by the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship indicated that nearly 42 per cent of jobs are at risk.

In the wake of these changes, the skills that Canadians require to have successful careers are rapidly changing, and Canadian workers will need to adapt to stay ahead of the curve. Increasingly, attributes such as critical thinking, communication and emotional intelligence, all of which are often described as soft skills, are critical for career success.

Consequently, Canadians need to focus on developing not just technical skills (coding, engineering, data science, and others), but also essential soft – or what I will refer to later as human – skills.

This is an excerpt from an article by Scott Stirret, founder and executive director of Venture for Canada, a not-for-profit organization that connects top Canadian university graduates to work at startups. The full piece can be read in The Globe and Mail.