The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work, accelerating trends in remote work, ecommerce and automation.  As the nature of work evolves, an increasing number of Indians desire to upskill in latest technologies for a better career, says a report by edtech company Great Learning, a part of the BYJU'S group.

“From an already steep number in 2021, the intent to upskill in 2022 touches a record high with 79% professionals (including freshers) planning to upskill,” says the  ‘Upskilling Outlook in India 2022’ by Great Learning, a provider of online higher education and professional learning.  

As jobs in newer domains soared high in 2021, more than 70% of people chose to upskill to grab new opportunities. An even higher intent towards upskilling is being seen in 2022 with the emergence of newer domains like web 3.0, metaverse and  NFTs among others. 79% people still plan to upskill in 2022 with another 11% people on the fence, says the report.  

Professionals from Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad showed the highest intent towards upskilling in 2021 and 2022. However, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad are still the topmost cities when it comes to demand for tech and data domains as observed in Great Learning’s platform data.  

With the rise of remote working and online hiring, tier 2/3 cities have also shown a huge intent for upskilling with Nagpur, Ernakulam, Mysore, Jaipur and Indore topping the list of fastest-growing cities.

The IT, BFSI and Consulting sectors continue to dominate due to increased digital transformation and the dynamic nature of the business. With the continued pandemic, professionals from healthcare and education are also looking to upskill in data and cutting-edge tech skills.

The report findings say that freshers and early stage professionals are looking for new jobs whereas experienced professionals are looking to brush up their skills. 65% of freshers are keen to enter the corporate world and are upskilling to bag a new career opportunity. In both 2021 and 2022, 52% of professionals with work experience of 6-8 years upskilled to grow their career within their organisation. Moreover, brushing up on new skills and personal interest was the top reason to upskill for 62% of professionals with work experience of  more than 9 years. 

The future of jobs will be dominated by data science and advanced tech, as per the report.  A staggering 43% people expressed intent in data focused domains - data science, AI, machine learning and analytics.   

Even though several factors come into play while making a choice to upskill, there were some dominant ones that came out in Great Learning’s consumer research. While 48% of freshers and professionals with less than three years of work experience consider job assistance as the top parameter while upskilling, 23% professionals with 3-8  years of experience look for personalised mentorship and 30%  with more than 9 years of experience state certifications from renowned universities as their key consideration.

The report found that even though the intent to upskill is equal among men and women, 81% of the women cited being busy with family and household work as a barrier in upskilling.  

Many big and small organisations are in the process of building a re-skilling and upskilling culture within their existing workforce. However, as per the report, only 35% of people reported access to customised training programs from their employers. A fresh hire requires upto  eight months to become fully productive at their new job.  

With the third wave of COVID-19 underway, offices have again been locked down and people are saving on commute times. Having said that, more than 62% of people do not feel going back to the office will act as a hurdle in their plan to upskill. The flexibility given by online learning platforms is a big factor for this where professionals could utilize commute times and breaks to upskill anywhere as opposed to taking out time specifically from their schedule.  

“The increasing traction and adoption of upskilling amongst smaller Indian cities is an indicator of how geographical barriers are being broken. From an employment perspective, there are still lakhs of unfilled vacancies due to the scarcity of skilled talent and with most companies adopting digital transformation, the paths to grow for 'skilled employees' are unparalleled,”  said Hari Krishnan Nair, co-founder, Great Learning.

The results of the report are based on internal data from Great Learning and a survey conducted by Pyxis with close to 1000 respondents from cities across India such as Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. Respondents work in industries such as IT and BPM, banking, education and training and automobiles among others, in the domains of data science, AI, software development, analytics, management, sales and design among others.