Despite technological have edited their lists over the past few months, they continue to do so it needs many experts with specific skills. And the difficulty in finding them continues, especially when they need professionals who master certain skills considered soft. In their search, they found them where few expected them: in the game world.

That’s because players have such a high level of soft skills that they’re increasingly attractive to recruiters, Computer World reports. For many, it’s likely that their highest aspiration is to work at a gaming company, but they may be offered even more attractive positions at other tech companies just because they learned how to do things through gaming.

According to a study by recruiting firm ManpowerGroup, more than half of companies offering jobs would appreciate mentioning the skills gained from playing games in their hiring process, and 65% said they plan to consider them in the future. This is because skills developed through eSports and gaming can be highly valued by companies.

These skills include creativity, critical thinking, reasoning, problem solving, leadership, collaboration or resilience. On the other hand, 43% of hiring companies report that it is more difficult to teach the soft skills they are looking for. In addition, the pandemic has accelerated the demand for several of them. In particular, communication, learning and collaboration skills. And gaming can help players achieve them.

Each game allows you to learn specific skills

Of course, each game allows you to learn specific skills. For example, with Fortnite and League of Legends, you can improve creative thinking, collaboration and problem-solving skills. In addition, play is an engine of continuous learning, and the ability to adapt skills is increasingly important as people constantly need to adapt to an ever-changing work environment.

It is estimated that there are about 2,500 million gamers in the world who have various skills that are in high demand. They play very different titles and ManPower studied the skills necessary to play them and concluded that the players have exactly the talent that companies are looking for. To get there, he researched more than 11,000 games in 13 genres, from action-adventure to role-playing.

In this process, the consultancy discovered the main skills that are developed in individual game categories. They then mapped the skills to match them with job skills and identified the types of jobs where those skills were most important so they could map them to job recommendations.

While playing the game, there are titles that present complex challenges to the players and they have to develop a strategy to overcome them. This can improve their problem-solving skills. Multiplayer games enhance teamwork and collaboration skills through improved effective communication as well as coordination with other team members.

Through gameplay, the player can demonstrate resilience by completing a quest or task and leveling up. In addition, games can help improve players’ typing and multitasking abilities. They may even go so far as to learn project management skills.

In addition to these skills, many players have other knowledge that is more related to technology. Gamers of a certain level need to know a lot about hardware and software. Also about how to set up your computer and how to use various software tools.

The expansion of artificial intelligence will also highlight the need to have professionals with high levels of certain soft skills: critical thinking, negotiation, empathy, communication, creativity, design, collaboration and storytelling. Primarily because automating processes frees up employees to carry out other tasks that are more complex or require greater involvement.

Companies are gradually evolving in their selection processes

Meanwhile, 88% of companies are using completely outdated hiring practices, filtering out candidates who have the skills they’re looking for in favor of those who have specific qualifications or who fill positions that match those they offer. They do so even though research shows that skills, not education, are the most important thing, according to Forrester Research.

Only 20% of employers hire developers without a college degree. In addition, only one in three organizations want to improve the experience of their IT or technology departments by improving access to skills development. But times are changing. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of employees based solely on real skills, knowledge and experience, and not just university degrees, has increased.

In addition, for telecommuting, there is a direct link between the pandemic and a significant drop in the unemployment rate in several countries in certain industries. Especially in the technology sector as companies accelerated their digital transformation plans.

Things have changed so much that, according to an April 2022 study by the job portal Indeed, 59% of employers are considering removing a degree from hiring requirements. 30% believe removing a degree as a hiring requirement would help them hire more diverse talent.

On the other hand, 87% of senior managers surveyed said they were not prepared to address the skills shortage. This is pointed out by Forrester Research 78% of companies prioritize developing and acquiring skills internally. But if you search the gaming community, you can find people who have the skills of people who have played team sports.

But passion is also important, and according to several sources, there are players in the gaming community who have skills typically found in people who have played team sports. For this reason, gamers have long since ceased to be considered children who lock themselves in their room for hours and play among pizza boxes. They are now highly valued for filling positions in technology of all kinds.