Upskilling trends in talent/tech space

Technology has become the new fuel to drive business performance and success in an Industry 4.0 environment. Most edtech leaders see upskilling as an effective strategy to bridge the global talent crunch of $8.5 trillion (850,000 crore jobs unfilled) by 2030. As a way of formulating an inclusive workforce, edtech leaders are at the forefront of offering domain-specific new-age courses in digital finance transformation, HR analytics, accounting analytics, DevOps, Java full stack, data analytics and other global certifications. University and edtech leaders predict four critical trends in the tech talent space in 2023.

Niche course

Generalised education is no more the trend. A recent McKinsey report suggests that over 6-12 million jobs would be created by niche technologies in the next decade. To fuel global employability skills and career progression among professionals, edtechs must focus on offering flexible, affordable, immersive, and career-focused niche programs and certifications in data sciences, full-stack, Java, data analytics, human resource, and people analytics & digital finance transformation.

Target audience

The post-pandemic era has led companies to set new hiring standards. India comprises 34% of Gen Z millennials. Conventional education, poor skill development opportunities, career immobility, slow salary hikes and benefits, and unpreparedness for the future of work are the reasons to get upskilled. Edtechs are offering core tech competencies to support long-term career goals and personal development through the “learn while you earn” strategy.

Collaborations and partnerships

A strong network and engagement can help edtech leaders to become academic or company insiders to assess manpower needs, uncover productivity loopholes, technical gaps, technology optimization, business operations, and performance rate, and offer better critical and real-time talent solutions. Partnerships can actually zero down costs, employee turnover, bad customer engagement and service errors while boosting other key imperatives like employee culture and engagement and business outcomes.

Skills under spotlight

In an era of open innovation where knowledge is shared, companies hunt for digital talent with specialised skill sets to drive results. But unfortunately, the top MNCs are facing a net talent shortage of 60,000 employees. The World Economic Forum of Job Report of 2020 places technical, analytical, automation, DevOps, full-stack, data analytics and management, cybersecurity, cloud computing, AI and ML along with core competencies as key market-driven skills. To meet the demand of 97 million new jobs by 2025, edtech leaders should offer niche courses and certifications in the above fields and more.

No leader or company is risk-free, but edtech leaders capitalising on these five major trends can tap new opportunities, lead new initiatives, and draw new boundaries in the tech talent space of tomorrow.

(The author is the CEO of a Bengaluru-based skilling start-up)