The highest proficiency ratings were reported for management and traditional IT skills. The skill with the highest reported proficiency rating is principles of programming (mean 2.36 on a four-point scale). Among the top ten, the other technical skills are COBOL (2.21), principles of operating systems (2.16), support for desktop applications (2.13), and hardware maintenance and support (2.09). The management skills in the top ten were written communication (2.27), oral communication (2.21), customer service (2.16), leadership (2.14), and supervisory skills (2.12). Of the top 25 skills by mean proficiency rating, ten are management skills.

In the full set of 126 skills, overall mean proficiency ratings range from a high of 2.36 to a low of 1.48 on a four-point scale. On average, employees rated their proficiency level as basic for 30 skills, intermediate for 19, advanced for 10, expert for 3 and no proficiency for 62 skills. However, assessing all 126 skills by comparing only the mean scores masks important contextual factors that affect proficiency ratings. The next sections explore these contextual factors in more detail.