As many companies focus on going back to pre-pandemic office norms, remote roles are still in demand from top talent. At the same time, AI continues to impact the workforce, which raises the value of human-focused skills.
As we head into 2026, continued AI adoption will change how companies assess and hire talent, placing even more emphasis on soft skills that technology can’t replace.
For businesses focused on hiring hybrid and remote workers, these skills will be a major competitive advantage that employers should look for in the recruitment process. In 2026, remote work success will depend less on technical expertise and more on the ability to collaborate effectively, communicate clearly and adapt to change.
To understand why soft skills have become so critical, we need to consider the trends reshaping remote work.
How Remote Workers Can Sharpen Their Soft Skills
Whether you’re a job candidate looking to stand out or a remote employee wanting to grow, you can develop soft skills with intention and practice. Here’s what I recommend.
- Seek feedback regularly: Ask colleagues or managers how you come across in meetings or written communication. You can’t improve what you’re not aware of.
- Reflect after interactions: Take a few minutes after challenging conversations or projects to consider what went well and what you’d do differently.
- Build connection intentionally: Remote work doesn’t offer the organic relationship-building of an office. Schedule informal catchups, celebrate wins publicly and check in on colleagues beyond work topics.
- Learn to sit with ambiguity: Practice starting tasks before you have all the answers. The ability to make progress without perfect clarity is a skill that improves with repetition.
- Practice active listening: In virtual meetings, resist the urge to multitask. Focus fully on the speaker, ask clarifying questions and summarize what you’ve heard.
The State of Remote Work
According to LinkedIn’s Economic Graph, remote work has diminished in recent years. In early 2022, 27 percent of jobs in the U.S. that members applied to were remote, but by late 2024 this share declined to 16 percent. Robert Half, a well-known global staffing and consulting firm, found that 24 percent of new job postings in Q3 2025 were hybrid, and 12 percent were fully remote.
As these opportunities shrink, companies are becoming selective about which roles remain remote. With fewer employers offering remote work, organizations that continue to offer flexibility have a competitive edge in attracting top talent.
As companies shift to a more deliberate hiring strategy for remote roles, candidates must demonstrate more robust soft skills. The bar is higher now, and demonstrating strengths in emotional intelligence, communication, adaptability and critical thinking has become essential to stand out.
AI Is Changing the Talent Landscape
As AI continues to automate routine work and decision-making, excellent soft skills unique to humans will become a competitive advantage in the workplace.
In the past, technical skills set high performers apart. Today, AI is automating much of that work, from data analysis to routine decision-making, shifting the focus of many roles to doing things that technology can’t replicate. This includes the ability to build relationships, navigate ambiguity and foster connection. This is especially true in hybrid and remote environments where culture and connection don’t happen by default.
This new approach to work will reshape expectations for remote employees. Consequently, employers who are solely hiring remote employees should focus not just on what candidates know, but how they connect, lead adapt and respond to change, all in a virtual setting where visual and informal cues are limited.
Technical skills are relatively easy to assess; soft skills aren’t. Evaluating them requires thoughtful behavioral and scenario-based questions that reveal how candidates adapt, handle complexity, collaborate and communicate.
Questions to Assess Soft Skills for Remote Workers
Here are some of the questions employers can ask and what strong responses look like.
Emotional Intelligence
Question
Tell me about a time you received feedback that was difficult to hear.
What to Look For
Self-awareness and growth over defensiveness. A strong candidate might say, “My manager told me I was coming across as dismissive in meetings. My first instinct was to defend myself, but I asked for specific examples instead. I realized I was interrupting without meaning to, so I started pausing before responding. My manager noticed the shift within weeks.”
Collaboration
Question
Tell me about a time you had to work closely with others to move work forward despite different perspectives, priorities or ways of working.
What to Look For
Relationship-building, empathy, shared ownership and the ability to create alignment rather than simply compromise. A strong candidate might say, “I led a cross-functional project with marketing, sales and product, and progress stalled early because each team was optimizing for different outcomes. I brought everyone together to align on a shared goal, clarify what success meant for each group and agree on tradeoffs before execution. Once we shifted from defending positions to solving the problem together, momentum returned and we delivered on time.”
Adaptability
Question
How have you adapted your working style since moving to remote or hybrid work?
What to Look For
Self-awareness and intentional behavioral change. A strong candidate might say, “I realized early on that I was losing the natural check-ins that happened in an office. So, I started scheduling short daily syncs with my team and blocking focus time on my calendar. I also got better at over-communicating progress — what felt like too much at first turned out to be exactly what the team needed.”
Self-Management
Question
How do you stay focused and keep yourself accountable when working remotely?
What to Look For
Structure, discipline and proactive habits. A strong candidate might say, “I set clear priorities at the start of each day and use time-blocking to protect deep work. I also keep my manager in the loop with a short weekly update — not because they ask for it, but because it keeps me honest about what I've delivered. When I notice my focus slipping, I change my environment or take a short break rather than pushing through unproductively.”
Navigating Ambiguity
Question
How do you approach work when expectations or goals aren’t clearly defined?
What to Look For
Comfort with uncertainty, initiative and the ability to create structure where there is none. A strong candidate might say, “I start by clarifying what I do know: the overall objective, who the key stakeholders are and any hard deadlines. Then I make a start with what I have rather than waiting for perfect clarity. I check in early and often to make sure I’m heading in the right direction, and I’m not afraid to ask questions or flag when something needs more definition. I’ve found that momentum often brings clarity faster than waiting does.”
Soft Skills That Will Help Remote Employees Succeed
Here’s how key soft skills will shape the future workplace.
Critical Thinking
AI can process data, but it can’t think critically about context, ethics or nuance. Employees who can analyze information, challenge assumptions and make sound decisions will remain essential. In remote teams, when decisions move quickly online, strong critical thinkers pause to flag risks, offer a different point of view and ask, “What are we missing?” before work moves ahead.
Adaptability
Change is constant, whether it's shifting priorities, new tools or evolving team structures. For remote workers, adaptability often shows up in small moments – switching plans when decisions change overnight, picking up work from a shared document instead of a meeting and keeping progress moving even when not everyone is online.
Emotional Intelligence
Understanding and managing your own emotions while recognizing and responding to others is critical in remote settings where cues are harder to read. This means looking more closely at someone when on a call with them. Do they look agitated, tired or confused? Or is their camera off? Noticing when people are struggling or taking the time to learn more about someone’s life outside of work builds trust, strengthens relationships and helps navigate difficult conversations with care.
Collaboration
Working effectively with others across time zones, tools and working styles requires patience, active listening and a willingness to compromise. AI can support collaboration, but it can’t replace the human effort needed to build strong teams. By establishing a teams channel for project teams in different regions, everyone on the project can provide updates and catch up on the latest progress, regardless of the time zone they are working in.
Communication
Clear, concise communication is the backbone of remote work. Without water cooler chats or simply walking to a colleague’s desk, employees need to be intentional about how they share information, ask questions and keep others in the loop. For example, consider who might need to know about or be affected by the items discussed in a call and dropping them a quick Slack or Teams message afterwards to let them know what was agreed upon.
Leadership
With ongoing economic uncertainty in the world, employees are navigating more than just their workloads. They’re managing stress, job security concerns and their families/other personal pressures. This is where leadership skills become essential.
Empathy creates psychological safety. When leaders take the time to listen, acknowledge challenges and respond with understanding, employees feel safe to speak up, take risks and ask for help. In remote environments, where isolation can amplify anxiety, empathetic leadership is the foundation of a resilient, connected team.
