TRICIA PHILLIPS

The skills that workers believe will be important to their career prospects this year and what bosses are actually looking for differ dramatically.

Employees put the ability to problem-solve as the top skill to boost their chances of success. While employers said that adaptability was the most valuable skill a candidate could have.

Research from recruitment firm Michael Page shows less than one in five workers deemed commercial awareness important, but those looking to recruit ranked this as the second most valuable skill for jobseekers.

Corinne Mills, careers coach and MD at Personal Career Management, said: “It’s not only important for candidates to show they can do the job today, they must also show they are likely to be an asset in future.”

Holiday clashes are the number one reason for co-worker bust-ups say two-thirds of people. Stealing food from the fridge and responsibility for doing the tea round are two of the other bugbears that create friction in workplaces.

Research from flight site kiwi.com reveals that two-fifths of workers were unable to book off the time they wanted last year and that has led to a January of binge-booking.

More than a fifth of workers said they had already booked out their entire holiday allowance for the year as competition to bag popular dates is rife.

Alison Couper of Kiwi.com, said: “January has always been a very popular time of year to book our getaways – everyone likes to have something to cheer up the dark days.”