Article: Here's what you need to know about the changing skills in IT

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Here's what you need to know about the changing skills in IT

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Automation and emerging technologies are changing the skills that IT professionals need to possess
Here's what you need to know about the changing skills in IT

With IT sector witnessing a massive technological evolution with the advent of AI, Data science, etc. skill development has become the most important course of action for most organizations. Large companies are adopting new advancements to increase their efficiency and to sustain the profit margins whereas startups are innovating and inventing the future of technology becoming the true path breakers, driving the change. According to the World Economic Forum surveys, over a third of the core skill sets in most jobs will be replaced by new ones by 2020 and insufficient understanding of the disruptive changes will be the foremost barrier to the disruption.

The IT sector is driven by research and by 2025, 30-35% of the revenue is likely to come from the digital operations of the organization. Hence, skilled human resources are need of the hour for IT sector. The gap is increasing, and teams are striving to redefine their competency framework in order to get people with necessary skills. It’s not just the employee’s job to stay relevant to the changing times as employers and managers also need to partake in this transformation.

In-demand skills

Organizations need to take cognizance of the changing talent requirements and redefine it accordingly. There are skills which are gaining momentum, such as data science and statistical modeling, and then there are skills are which are re-shaping the talent scenario in the IT industry such as full-stack developers.

A full-stack developer's role encompasses a wide range of responsibilities such as server hosting, UI/UX, designing, integration capability, security and compliance, API, etc. An ideal candidate for this must know all the domains in small quantum and have a holistic approach towards it. Organizations must redefine the competency framework to understand what the stack is. The stack must comprise of knowledge of back-end, front-end, design and API at least. A full stack developer will function like a bridge joining the technological end with customer-facing designs and must have an understanding of the importance of all the domains.

There are various learning programs for organizations and its employees to develop their skills. From Hackathons to open source boot camps, there are many events which not only allow people to learn new skills but also helps them to gear up their networking. Employees looking to enhance their skills on their own can also opt for online courses which will add value to their portfolio and help them to learn anytime and anywhere according to their schedule.

Reskill, Upskill or Outsource

The reskill-upskill movement in talent transformation is a great definition of how skill development must be taken ahead. Re-skilling is getting a new set of skills which might be completely different from their current skills and job role whereas up-skilling is enhancing skills within the same role or profession.

Managers must carefully dissect their workforce to analyze whether re-skilling is effective or up-skilling depending on everybody’s domain of knowledge.

With a global change in the way the millennial workforce functions, there has been a shift in workplace dynamics. Earlier, the IT industry used to function on contractual terms which defined duration and responsibilities whereas now in the gig economy, millennial workforce wants to determine their own work, time-frame, etc. Organizations need to choose whether they want to stick to the conventional contract basis model or wish to source talent from the open market or gig economy based on its effectiveness to reduce overhead costs. Based on the talent pool, organizations also need to design the training programs and decide if they want to re-skill and re-deploy the internal talent for upcoming opportunities or hire from the open marketplace. The learning and development programs need to be personalized as not every person has the same skill set and to leverage the employees existing skill set. For example, a person who has back-end and front-end tech skills can be trained in designing and security compliance to become a full-stack.

Mode of talent transformation has become an essential instrument to let the employees make this transformation. Though organizations look for fresh talent at renowned universities, niche training programs, usual recruitment consultants to bridge the demand-supply gap, the key to bridging this gap lies in the accessibility of learning and development programs for employees.

In a country like India, we have been able to handle the disruption efficiently by moving at the pace of technology and having enough learning and awareness regarding relegation of some jobs. We have a great opportunity as people have started realizing the value of augmentation. For example, AI has evolved at a tremendous rate because of the availability of skills and acceptance from the consumers in last two years. Technological revolution will completely depend on the pace at which we adapt to the disruption in the industry regarding skill development and redesigning the talent competency frameworks.

This article is based on insights shared on a webinar on the same topic.

 

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Topics: Skilling, Learning & Development, #Create The Future

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