Staying Relevant in the New Normal
Continuous Learning is believed to be the minimum requirement for success in any field. The COVID-19 pandemic was a gentle reminder of this timeless maxim. Organizations which did not upgrade became obsolete, and individuals who did not upskill lost their edge. The need for upskilling or reskilling presents a huge challenge not only to individuals and organizations, but to economies and societies at large. The good thing with learning is - it’s never too late.
Expiry on Jobs by 2030
A McKinsey report titled, ‘The future of work after Covid-19’ made some very crucial observations. According to the report, around 100 million people will need to find new occupations by 2030 across the eight focus countries. For India alone, this number will be close to 18 million. There are numerous other surveys that put an expiry to the existing jobs by the end of this decade with increased application of digitization, automation, and pervasive application of AI/ML. They also indicate the emergence of new roles in organizations along with remarkable changes in the skill requirement of existing roles.
Disruptive Talent Development
While the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace at which technology is becoming commonplace in our lives, it has also exposed a stark digital divide in India’s workforce. During the pandemic, the enterprises which embraced digital transformation not only survived but thrived despite the crisis.The accelerated learning and agile adoption helped them lay the foundation for robust growth in the new normal. Similarly, upskilling is a critical and inevitable aspect for the continuous success of not just organizations, but world economies.
In the post-pandemic economy, we will need an organized drive-in upskilling for developing and maintaining 21st-century skills and competencies. It is no surprise that professionals with deep technical or domain skills will always be more sought after as they are better poised to meet the challenges of the volatile job market during an economic slowdown.
India’s demand for digital talent jobs is approximately 8x larger than the size of its fresh talent pool. By 2024, this demand is expected to become 20x the available fresh talent pool. For a country that supports a majority of the world’s technology outsourcing requirements, it’s alarming to see that India’s talent shortage is 9 percent higher than the global average. For India to retain its lead in the digital era, we need to disrupt the traditional approach to talent development. Along with upskilling our existing workforce, we need to build alternate talent pools that don’t require a traditional four-year engineering degree. It is high time we penetrate the smaller towns and explore the untapped potential of youth and women with limited resources and invest in a sustained talent pool with specific skillsets. We should also explore innovative learning models and invest in building world-class free content that can be leveraged by anyone and aligned with a credible system of certification.
FutureSkills Prime, a joint initiative between Industry, the Government and nasscom, offers industry aligned content and courses in emerging technologies and professional skills. Government has also incentivized this program and learners can avail financial support through these courses and certifications.
Today, India has a unique opportunity to become the global hub of digital talent. If only, we as individuals, organizations and societies, embed learning into our everyday culture can we truly realise our fullest potential and lead the charge amidst ungovernable global conditions.
Written By Sindhu Gangadharan, SVP & MD, SAP Labs India