Latest / Future of Work Tech with Fexingo: Remote Tools, AI Productivity, and Workplace Software / How Job Listings Reveal the Future of Work Tech
Transcript
- Lucas: A few weeks ago I spent a Saturday afternoon doing something deeply nerdy — I scraped about ten thousand job listings from US tech companies posted between January and April of this year. Luna: Okay, I have to ask — why? Lucas: Because job postings are one of the few honest signals we have about what tools and skills companies actually value. Company blogs say they're 'async-first' or 'ai native,' but the job posting is where you see what they’re paying for. I wanted to see what the data actually says about the state of work tech right now. Luna: So what did the data tell you? Lucas: First big finding: the most requested collaboration tool across all ten thousand listings was Slack. It appeared in about 64 percent of postings. Microsoft Teams was second at 47 percent. But here's the interesting part — Zoom came in third at just 31 percent. That's down from around 55 percent in similar postings from 2023. Luna: That's a steep drop. Is Zoom losing ground? Lucas: It's not exactly that Zoom is losing — it's that the category is fragmenting. A lot of companies now list Google Meet, or they list 'video conferencing tool' generically. And asynchronous video tools like Loom are showing up in 18 percent of listings, which is up from basically zero a few years ago. Luna: So the synchronous meeting — the thing Zoom owns — is becoming less central to the job description? Lucas: Exactly. And that ties into the second finding. I looked for keywords around asynchronous work — phrases like 'async-first,' 'asynchronous communication,' 'written communication,' 'documentation-first.' Those appeared in 42 percent of postings. That's up from about 22 percent in 2023. Luna: That's a massive jump. Companies are actually codifying async as a requirement. Lucas: They are. And it's not just startups. I saw it in postings from companies like JPMorgan and Ford. The phrase 'strong written communication' was almost always paired with 'ability to work independently across time zones.' Luna: It makes sense — if you're hiring someone who might never overlap with their manager, you need them to be able to write clearly. Lucas: Right. And the tools that enable that — Notion, Confluence, Coda — those are the ones seeing the biggest growth in mentions. Notion appeared in 22 percent of postings, up from about 8 percent three years ago. Luna: Notion is like the Swiss Army knife of documentation now. Lucas: It is. And it's interesting because a few years ago, a lot of those documentation tasks would have lived inside a shared drive or a wiki no one updated. Now companies are explicitly asking for Notion experience. Luna: Okay, but what about AI tools? I feel like every job posting I see these days mentions AI in some way. Lucas: You're right. And that was the most dramatic shift in the data. Thirty-eight percent of postings mentioned AI in some form — either as a required skill or as a tool the company uses. That's up from 12 percent in 2024. Luna: What does 'AI literacy' actually mean in a job posting, though? Is it prompt engineering, or understanding model limitations, or what? Lucas: It varies a lot. In some postings it's very concrete — 'experience using GitHub Copilot' or 'familiarity with ChatGPT for content generation.' But in about a third of the cases, it's vague — 'AI literacy preferred.' That's not super helpful for a job seeker. Luna: It's like how five years ago every posting said 'must be social media savvy' without defining it. Lucas: Exactly the same pattern. But there is a subset of postings that are very specific. For example, about 8 percent ask for experience with specific AI collaboration tools — like Otter.ai for meeting notes, or Grammarly for writing, or Copilot for code. Those are more actionable. Luna: So if someone is job hunting right now, what should they put on their resume based on this data? Lucas: Slack and Notion are the two biggest individual tools. But I'd also say — demonstrate async communication skills. If you're applying for a remote or hybrid role, show that you can write a clear project update or a well-structured document. That's becoming table stakes. Luna: And what about AI? Should they list 'ChatGPT' on their resume? Lucas: I'd be careful. Some companies love it, some are still wary. But I think showing that you understand how to use AI to be more productive — without over-relying on it — is a differentiator. Maybe frame it as 'leveraged AI tools to reduce report generation time by 30 percent' rather than just listing the tool name. Luna: That's smart. It's about the outcome, not the tool. Lucas: Speaking of outcomes, I want to talk about one more dataset point that surprised me. I looked at mentions of project management tools — Asana, Trello, Jira, Monday.com. Jira was the most mentioned at 28 percent, but it was almost always for engineering or product roles. Asana and Monday.com were more evenly distributed across departments. Luna: So the tool you use says something about what kind of work you do? Lucas: Exactly. If a job posting asks for Jira, it's probably a technical role. If it asks for Asana or Monday.com, it could be marketing, operations, or HR. That's useful for job seekers to know — if you see a posting that asks for a tool you don't know, you can infer the function. Luna: That's a good cheat sheet. I'm going to remember that. Luna: You know, this conversation reminded me of something — if today's tech deep-dive gave you something you can actually use, whether it's a tip for your resume or a way to think about tools differently, that's exactly what we hope for with this show. Lucas: Yeah, and honestly, if today was worth a coffee to you, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep this ad-free and focused on the data. Luna: Totally. And we really appreciate the listeners who do that — it lets us spend time on deep dives like this one. Lucas: So back to the data — one more thing I found. The rise of the 'tool stack' as a listed requirement. About 15 percent of postings now list a specific combination of tools — like 'Slack, Notion, and Google Workspace' or 'Teams, SharePoint, and Asana.' Luna: So they're not just looking for familiarity with one tool, they want someone who can navigate the whole ecosystem. Lucas: Right. And that tells you something about how integrated these tools have become. Companies aren't just using Slack for chat and Notion for docs — they're connecting them. Slack integrates with Notion, with Asana, with a dozen other tools. So the value is in knowing how they work together. Luna: It's almost like a new kind of digital literacy — not just knowing how to use individual apps, but understanding how they fit into a workflow. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's going to become even more important as AI agents start to automate parts of the workflow. If you understand the tool ecosystem, you're better positioned to design and manage those automations. Luna: So for our listeners who are thinking about their careers — what's the one takeaway from this data dump? Lucas: If you want to be competitive in today's job market, I'd focus on three things: get comfortable with async communication tools like Slack and Notion, develop a working understanding of AI — even if it's just how to use a copilot effectively — and learn to think in terms of integrated workflows rather than isolated apps. Luna: Solid advice. And it's backed by ten thousand job postings, so it's not just opinion. Lucas: Exactly. And I'll be revisiting this dataset in six months to see how things shift. My bet is that AI mentions will climb even higher, and async requirements will become standard for any non-urgent role. Luna: I'll be curious to see if the tools themselves consolidate — like, will we end up with fewer platforms because they all integrate anyway? Lucas: That's the big question. For now, the data says diversification. But consolidation is the classic tech pattern. It'll be interesting to watch.