"Social skill" and "empathy" are very different things. An awkward person can be empathetic. A charming person can be callous.
In fact, I'm even suspicious of people who say "the most valuable skill a programmer can have isn't technical, but rather social" because they often turn out to be aptitudinally-challenged programmers themselves.
In my experience the programmers who are saying that are usually engineering leadership. If you believe the endgame is becoming engineering leadership, then it's absolutely true that soft skills become more important.
While I don't agree that "social skills" are the most valuable skill for a programmer, I do sincerely think it is the most common reason why competent programmers hit an invisible ceiling in their careers. I've seen plenty of programmers who are technically talented and hardworking, but who get stuck in their careers at the junior end of "senior" because nobody wants to work with them no matter how right they are. If person A is right 90% of the time but nobody wants to deal with them, and person B is right 80% of the time and people are willing to listen, I would rather keep B over A because those junior developers who are running at 60% will turn into 80%-ers under B, but they'll stay 60% under A.
In fact, I'm even suspicious of people who say "the most valuable skill a programmer can have isn't technical, but rather social" because they often turn out to be aptitudinally-challenged programmers themselves.
In my experience the programmers who are saying that are usually engineering leadership. If you believe the endgame is becoming engineering leadership, then it's absolutely true that soft skills become more important.
While I don't agree that "social skills" are the most valuable skill for a programmer, I do sincerely think it is the most common reason why competent programmers hit an invisible ceiling in their careers. I've seen plenty of programmers who are technically talented and hardworking, but who get stuck in their careers at the junior end of "senior" because nobody wants to work with them no matter how right they are. If person A is right 90% of the time but nobody wants to deal with them, and person B is right 80% of the time and people are willing to listen, I would rather keep B over A because those junior developers who are running at 60% will turn into 80%-ers under B, but they'll stay 60% under A.