Top 7 sectors that require re-skilling and up-skilling in 2019 and why

A recent Mercer | Mettl report titled ‘State of Talent Acquisition 2019’ surveyed over 900 businesses across various sectors. The report revealed that talent acquisition is the most critical challenge faced by organizations in the wake of rapid digital transformation.

BSFI emerges as the sector where the demand-supply gap is most pressing (according to 90% of the respondents). While 89% and 75% of the respondents claimed that talent hiring is a major challenge in the telecommunications and the healthcare industry respectively.

A majority of the surveyed organizations asserted the widening skill gap as the primary reason behind the talent shortage in the technologically-evolving corporate ecosystem. Across all industries and job levels, companies today are looking to hire individuals who can keep up with the fast-changing technological and business trends by learning new skills as and when required through re-skilling and up-skilling. In short, aspiring professionals aiming to land high-paying job roles must possess one essential quality more than anything: learning agility.

Accordingly, here are the top 7 sectors that are focusing on re-skilling and up-skilling to bridge the skill gap:

1. BFSI

Banks today are adopting technological tools and partnering with fintech companies to make banking processes and services more efficient and user-friendly. Consequently, banking professionals need to adopt and improve their digital skills to stay relevant in the face of evolving trends in the industry.

2. IT

Organizations the world over are integrating advanced technologies like AI, machine learning, deep learning, data analytics, cloud computing, and so on, to enhance their business operations and drive productivity. While automation has resulted in the loss of some jobs, it has also given rise to several specialized job opportunities for technologically-proficient professionals to take. In view of these developments, IT companies are providing re-skilling and up-skilling resources to their employees.  

3. Logistics

The logistics sector is fast adopting digital tools to boost and strengthen the supply management chain between industries. The digital disruption has proved to be an enabler for companies in the fast-growing Indian logistics sector which is expected to become a USD 215 billion industry in the coming years. Employees then need to keep their skills up-to-date to thrive in the evolving industry trends.  

4. Telecommunications

According to the Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC), the telecommunications sector will see a rise of 14.3 million new tech-centric jobs by 2025. Professionals looking to fill job positions in this sector will need to heavily up-skill themselves.

5. Healthcare

The Indian biotech industry is growing at a huge rate. The integration of cutting-edge technologies with medical practices is increasingly making healthcare more effective and accessible to people. As more and more healthcare institutes are leveraging technological tools to carry out their internal operations and optimising their services, it has become a prerequisite for professionals in this sector to possess relevant skills.

6. Automobile

Despite being an incipient technology, AI and AI-based technologies have disrupted industries. The automobile sector is leveraging IoT and automation to power innovative concepts like self-driving cars and connected-mobility. The progress towards this futuristic vision is heavily dependent on technologically-skilled professionals.

7. E-commerce

Technological disruption in this sector has led to the emergence of several e-commerce platforms that are leveraging cutting-edge tools like SEO and data analytics to augment consumer engagement. As such, the demand for technology experts is growing in the Indian e-commerce sector.

How to best implement re-skilling and up-skilling programs?

It has been more than established that re-skilling and up-skilling training programs are the need of the hour if companies and professionals are to survive and thrive in the fast-changing corporate landscape. Further, organizations need to come up with relevant strategies to implement L&D programs most effectively.

The most fundamental steps companies can take are to carry out in-depth research into Job redesign needed to thrive in a disrupted world. Then follow it up with a scientific measure of current competencies and future competencies needed to do the job well.  

They can use the digital tools to conduct a continuous and comprehensive performance evaluation of their employees and provide them with personalized learning and development resources to bridge the skill gap.

Such a strategy will require organizations to allocate a sizeable budget to keep learning initiatives running in sync with technological changes in the market. The responsibility falls upon the HR to assess the ROI on L&D processes and their efficacy with respect to the workforce. Once this is achieved, both the organizations and the employed workforce will collectively be able to navigate the rapidly-evolving digital landscape.

-- Mr Siddhartha Gupta, CEO, Mercer|Mettl