With the job market slated to improve in 2017, employees and applicants will have more leverage when they apply for new work. However, this doesn't guarantee that it will land them a good job. But what can help them is knowing which skill set would be in demand next year.

According to LinkedIn, they have analyzed all of the data about job hiring and recruiting activities that happened on their website. The company saw that job applications have increased in the month of October, which tells them that there are a lot of people looking for a job right now.

The company analyzed all of their data to come out with a list of skills that companies have been demanding in 2016. These skills will continue to be in demand next year, especially during the first half of the year.

Cloud and distributed computing continue to be the most dominant skill that companies are seeking for. This skill has been the number one for the past two years, not only globally, but in countries such as the U.S., France, Germany, Spain, India Singapore, and Ireland.

Next on the list is statistical analysis and data mining, as companies are in need of people who are able to organize and understand data. This skill together with cloud computing is in high demand due to both of them being at the cutting edge of technology and it can help companies stay competitive.

The third and fourth in-demand skills on the list are web architecture and development framework, and middleware and integration software. While the fifth is the user interface design, a skill that is increasing in demand as it was ranked 10th last year and 14th in 2014.

The sixth and seventh in-demand skills would be network and information security, and mobile development, which shows the mobile market would still be a trend in 2017. The eight would be data presentation, which is a first in the list and shows companies are now investing in people who can visualize data.

Ninth on the list is SEO/SEM marketing, which shows that demand for this skill has dropped as it was number four last year. Tenth on the list is storage systems and management.

Knowing the skills that are sought after, can help applicants, candidates, and even employees who are looking for a better opportunity identify what they need to increase their chances of getting hired. To know more about the job trends for 2017, visit Jobs&Hire.