One of the most impactful factors that change the workplace nowadays is digital transformation. Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, businesses began to implement digital technologies to adapt to new realities. This drastic shift towards digitalization affected the workforce significantly. According to the Udemy Skill Gap Report, 62% of employees mentioned that the skill gap affects them personally. The modern workforce worries that AI and automation will replace their jobs in the near future. That’s why employees are willing to invest time and money to improve their skills or develop new ones.
Besides the tech skills rush, several interpersonal skills become more in demand. Critical thinking, resilience, communication skills, ability to learn fast, and leadership skills are required to efficiently work in an always-changing world of work.
In this article, we look closely at each skill in demand for you to consider gaining them and staying competitive at your job.
Tech skills to Master in 2022
CompTIA’s State of the Tech workforce revealed that leading tech occupation jobs are: software engineer, IT support specialist, cybersecurity and system engineers, network engineers, and data scientists. Let’s take a look at skills for the future for those jobs.
Programming Languages
Although there are plenty of no-code or low-code solutions for any type of business out there, solutions with specific requirements will need an experienced developer to make them work right. Knowing at least one programming language helps to understand the technology and improve your problem-solving skills. Moreover, there are plenty of non-tech jobs where basic coding is used, for example, web designer or content manager. The most in-demand programming languages include JavaScript, Python, Java, C/C++, PHP, etc.
Cybersecurity
As digital adoption grows, the risk to be attacked by hackers also increases. According to Deep Instinct Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2020, the number of ransomware attacks increased by 435% from 2019 to 2020. Thus, employers are interested in a workforce that knows how to protect networks and assess vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity skills also include scripting, intrusion detection, cloud security, etc.
Data Science
Data is one of the fundamental assets for businesses. Extracting, analyzing, and interpreting data helps businesses make decisions based on research. So modern employers want their employees to know basic data literacy. Besides, data analysis is used in any technology based on AI or machine learning. Data science in demand skills also include:
- Statistical analysis,
- Machine Learning and Deep Learning,
- Computing
- Big Data,
- Programming, etc.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is a prominent technology in high demand for many businesses. Artificial intelligence is a core tool for such features as:
- natural language processing,
- recommendation algorithms,
- deep learning,
- vulnerability monitoring,
- making predictions, etc.
Big corporations such as Amazon, Netflix, Apple, and Google incorporate AI technology in the plethora of their products. If you know how to use different AI tools, you’ll be in demand in the job market soon.
Data Visualization
Data visualization is a process of transforming raw datasets into meaningful graphic objects. Visualizing data helps to better communicate the results of data analysis and explain its value. As the number of data used in everyday work increases, it’s crucial to know design basics and tools to create charts, graphs, bars, etc.
Soft Skills Needed To Stay Competitive
The more technology takes over our jobs, communication, and the ability to build professional relationships become more valuable. There’s a list of soft skills in demand for the future.
Communication skills
Digital transformation made some adjustments to the way we communicate at work. Remote work forced us to adapt to online communication via video and chat communication tools. The communication skills to pay attention to are storytelling, writing, active listening, and public speech.
Resilience
Resilience is the ability to recover from stressful situations. Resilience at the workplace matters because it helps employees deal with change, stay motivated, recover from burnout and stay competitive. Skills that help to build resilience are an optimistic attitude, emotional intelligence, the ability to deal with negative emotions, mindfulness, and self-care.
Fast Learning
Statistics say that 50% of employees will need reskilling or upskilling to stay productive at work. Based on this, employees need to develop a skill of fast learning to close the skill gap and increase their performance. Learning skills useful for your career are active learning, time management, collaboration, and research skills.
Leadership
Leadership is a must-have skill for managers of any kind. A good leader can create a strong vision and motivate employees to achieve results according to business goals. Modern leaders should be able to think strategically, show empathy, and inspire, convince and support employees.
Wrapping Up
The modern job market is competitive. If you want to be always wanted by top employers, you should keep an eye on the most in-demand skills. Let’s sum up the most important of them:
- Hard skills:
- Programming Languages
- Cybersecurity
- Data Science
- Artificial Intelligence
- Data Visualization
- Soft skills:
- Communication skills
- Resilience
- Fast Learning
- Leadership