Why I Hate the Term 'Soft Skills'

Updated April 22, 2026

After speaking to a group of college students about career preparation some years ago, a curmudgeonly business owner and instructor approached me. I had just outlined the biggest skills employers are looking for in college students based on surveys among business leaders. Recalling the skills, he said, "Organization is something I look for. Logic is another one. But this other stuff--communication, leadership, effort--those are soft skills--fluff. The workforce is all about technical skills."

Had I known then what I know now, I would have challenged him on what he perceived as "fluff." But I also wonder if the word "soft" had something to do with his view. If that's the case, I can see how a hard-driving, bottom-line business person would dismiss something labeled "soft."

Then it hit me one day. Some may believe that soft skills actually indicate the absence of hard work! This is the part where we all simulate a mind explosion. One thing my 30-plus years of mass communication experience has taught me is that simple terms get easily lost in translation among various publics. This is why I hate the term "soft skills."

It's about people skills. Sure, that hard-driving, bottom-line business person may still greatly prefer technical skills and dismiss people skills as fluff, but the word "people" is a direct reference to every organization's most valuable resource. Maybe my buddy, the business-minded instructor, would have engaged me in a different conversation just by using the term "people" instead of "soft."

The concept of people skills isn't new, but the word "people" matters. Think about how your colleagues with great conflict resolution skills hold teams together. How many times have we seen colleagues manage change well because of their adaptability? Think of that unexpectedly involved, but important, conversation a team has had about writing effective emails. How often do we see folks with great technical skills fail to manage projects effectively because of their inability to communicate and collaborate?

Do a simple internet search on emotional intelligence, and you will get millions of results, including trainings, articles from reputable business media outlets, blogs, vlogs, and scholarship. It's not that the term people skills makes my heart go pitter-pat; people are critical to ensuring that any organization meets its priorities and that beautiful bottom line.

One of my favorite recruitment stories is about an auto collision shop manager who tried to blow off the importance of people skills in his shop. During our intake call, he said, "I just need a great body tech, I'm not worried about soft skills." I asked him why he let his previous body tech go, and the shop manager said, "The guy was a terrible communicator!" So, I asked him if he was looking for someone with strong people skills, and he said, "Exactly!"

To be sure, I think the term "soft skills" goes back to an older leadership paradigm where managers and executives were focused on technical skills. With a new workforce generation where our colleagues spend half of a meeting with their heads buried in their smartphones, however, that paradigm has shifted considerably. With business goals needing to be met, there is nothing "soft" about skills that bring people together to get the job done.