7 Lucrative Skills to Master by 2025

Mastering these seven skills could open up more job opportunities and increase your salary.

Every job demands a mix of workplace and technical skills. You’ve likely already developed an impressive array of abilities through your education or past work experiences.

High-income skills are highly valued by employers and can facilitate job changes, even across different industries. These skills are often rare and essential for the success of a business.

When looking to advance or pivot in your career, it’s important to emphasize your high-income skills in your portfolio. Depending on your career goals, you can use these skills to achieve your desired salary objectives.

7 Lucrative Skills to Acquire

Here are seven high-income skills to highlight on your CV to capture the attention of potential employers. This list was compiled using predictions from the World Economic Forum, Pearson, Future Learn, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Coursera, which forecast the most sought-after skills through 2030.

These skills are versatile and applicable across various career paths. As you explore this list, think about your career aspirations, previous experiences, and the job descriptions for roles you’re interested in, and see if any of these skills align with your journey.

1. Data analysis:

Analytical thinking and innovation are highlighted as the leading skills in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report. As companies across various sectors grow more dependent on data for decision-making, there is a rising demand for employees adept at gathering, interpreting, and communicating data to address business challenges.

Data analysis experts may utilize tools such as Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, SQL, Tableau, R, or Python.

Below are some careers involving data analysis, along with their average annual base salaries in India as of March 2025, according to Glassdoor:

Job title	Average base pay
Business analyst	₹8,24,057
Data analyst	₹7,10,000
Data engineer	₹9,83,580
Data scientist	₹12,59,506

2. Software Development:

Industries are increasingly leveraging technology to enhance their business capabilities, leading to a growing need for professionals proficient in developing, maintaining, and refining technological systems. Individuals in DevOps or software engineering roles are responsible for building, overseeing, and managing an organization’s technology.

Those with expertise in DevOps or software engineering might use tools such as Git, Docker, Jenkins, or Kubernetes and be familiar with programming languages like Python, Java, or C++.

Here are some careers that involve software development, along with their average annual base salaries in India as of March 2025, according to Glassdoor:

Job title	Average base pay
Applications engineer	₹9,59,835
Systems developer	₹20,00,193
Software engineer	₹22,01,362
DevOps engineer	₹7,00,000

3. User Experience (UX):

User experience (UX) goes hand in hand with technological advancement, focusing on how consumers interact with a product. UX professionals work to determine the most effective way to present a product to consumers, often engaging in research, design, and marketing efforts.

While UX roles do involve some data analysis, they are primarily design-oriented and provide opportunities for creativity. These positions require a high level of social perceptiveness—skills highlighted in multiple skill reports.

Here are some careers that utilize user experience skills, along with their average annual base salaries in India as of March 2025, according to Glassdoor:

Job title	Average base pay
UX writer	₹72,76,240
UX researcher	₹10,00,000
User interface (UI) designer	₹4,16,643
UX designer	₹51,34,421
Product designer	₹12,00,000

4. Web development:

Web development merges the core principles of software development with user experience, blending technical expertise with design aesthetics. Those skilled in web development are also knowledgeable about technical search engine optimization (SEO) to create and program websites that fulfill business objectives.

Below are some careers that require web development skills, along with their average annual base salaries in India as of March 2025, according to Glassdoor:

Job title	Average base pay
Front-end developer	₹10,40,000
Full-stack developer	₹7,10,015
Webmaster	₹3,54,000
Back-end developer	₹7,85,380

5. Project management:

Many organizations utilize a structure where different departments, teams, or individuals collaborate on a single product or project. Those who excel at coordinating efforts across these various touchpoints possess strong project management skills. These professionals are responsible for maintaining schedules, managing budgets, and communicating with stakeholders involved or invested in the project’s outcomes.

“Project management” can be seen as an umbrella term encompassing leadership, communication, planning, resilience, and organizational skills—qualities that employers consistently value.

Project management plays a crucial role in many careers and becomes increasingly important as you advance into managerial roles. However, you can also choose to specialize as a project manager. Below are some pathways within the project management field and their average annual base salaries in India as of March 2025, according to Glassdoor:

Job title	Average base pay
Project coordinator	₹6,32,610
Programme manager	₹19,02,610
Project manager	₹78,20,490
Portfolio manager	₹58,33,738

6. Account management:

While project management usually focuses on internal processes, account management utilizes a similar set of skills to interact with external parties. Particularly valued in sales roles, account management skills allow you to effectively promote your company and its products to customers.

These skills blend the organizational abilities needed to close deals with the interpersonal skills essential for negotiating and maintaining productive relationships. Professionals in this field often use customer relationship management (CRM) tools like Salesforce.

Below are some careers that require account management and sales skills, along with their average annual base salaries in India as of March 2025, according to Glassdoor:

Job title	Average base pay
Account manager	₹7,06,441
Business development associate	₹13,62,208
Business development manager	₹8,70,000
Sales representative	₹12,92,556

7. Content creation and management:

Content creation and management skills, which revolve around storytelling, are often vital in marketing careers. This skill set includes creativity, originality, social perceptiveness, and emotional intelligence. Enhancing these skills further can involve integrating data analysis, particularly marketing analytics, to evaluate how effectively your audience engages with your content.

Here are some careers that utilize content creation and management skills, along with their average annual base salaries in India as of March 2025, according to Glassdoor:

Job title	Average base pay
Social media manager	₹14,58,240
Digital marketing manager	₹15,54,576
Content marketing manager	₹10,00,000
Brand marketing manager	₹10,01,442

Keep learning

While you can develop numerous skills through your everyday work activities, sometimes enhancing your skill set with external classes or certifications can be beneficial. To identify the best skills for boosting your earning potential, explore the Career Academy on Coursera. This platform provides a comprehensive overview of essential skills across various career paths and offers specific online courses tailored to each path.

Sources for the Article:

1. World Economic Forum. “The Future of Jobs Report 2020.” Accessed March 15, 2025. Link
2. Pearson. “The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030.” Accessed March 15, 2025. Link
3. Future Learn. “The Future of Learning Report 2022.” Accessed March 15, 2025. Link
4. Search Engine Journal. “LinkedIn Lists Top 10 In-Demand Marketing Skills.” Accessed March 15, 2025. Link
5. Glassdoor Economic Research. “Looking to Upgrade? These are the Best Jobs for 2022.” Accessed March 15, 2025. Link

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