The Role of Soft Skills in the Professional Activities of IT-specialists

Currently, the processes of informatization and digitalization are leading to global changes in the labor market, the demand for IT-specialists is increasing, and new forms of remote work are appearing. The purpose of this study is to identify how IT specialists define the term “soft skills” and adapt to changing soft skills requirements. The work has a research strategy – case study, so that we conduct 20 semi-formalized interviews with IT-specialists of one IT-company. The data have been analyzed, using open, axial and selective coding. As a result, the studied group of IT-specialists in their activities uses such soft skills as communication with colleagues and customers, team and project work, and work time planning. The influence of these and other soft skills on a professional career is noted. In addition, the emergency situation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic led to the determination of how IT-specialists adapt their activities to the constrained conditions of remote work.