As AI automates technical tasks, employers increasingly prize creativity, communication, and storytelling
Resume.org, the leading platform for building a resume, has released new findings from a March 2026 survey of 991 U.S. hiring managers. The survey found that 57% of hiring managers consider an employee with strong creative thinking, communication, and storytelling skills more valuable than one with strong technical skills like coding. Only 26% say the opposite.
The findings signal a meaningful shift in how employers assess talent as AI tools grow more capable of handling technical work. Fifty-seven percent of hiring managers also say creative employees are harder to replace with AI than technical workers, nearly double the 31% who said the same about technical employees.
Coding has seen the sharpest decline in perceived value. Fourteen percent of hiring managers say coding is less valuable today than it was five years ago, a figure higher than for any other skill surveyed. By contrast, 81% say AI tool proficiency has grown in value, followed by strategic thinking (73%), creative thinking (68%), and communication and storytelling (64%).
When hiring managers who favor creative employees were asked why, three-quarters (76%) said it is because creative skills are difficult for AI or automation to replicate. Other reasons include contributing more to strategy and decision-making (72%), translating complex ideas into clear narratives (69%), and refining AI-generated content (51%).
Creative skills are valued most in financial services (66%) and technology (65%), followed by education (59%), government (58%), and manufacturing (56%).
The data also reveals a reshuffling rather than a wholesale elimination of creative roles. One in three companies (34%) has laid off creative employees in 2026 due to AI, a higher rate than the 23% that have laid off technical employees. At the same time, 39% of companies say they have increased hiring for creative roles this year, and 48% are upskilling their creative workforce.
“The value of coding skills is shifting because AI can now perform many technical tasks faster and at scale,” says Kara Dennison, Head of Career Advising at Resume.org. “At the same time, creative thinking, communication, and storytelling are becoming more valuable because they help organizations interpret, guide, and apply AI effectively. Professionals who can combine technical literacy with the ability to think creatively about problems and translate complex ideas into meaningful decisions will stand out the most in the workplace.”
