What are the future-proof skills and roles in tech and IT?
Technology and IT careers are trending as never before, and employment in these fields is expected to grow in the years ahead. In this article, you will learn more about some future-proof skills that experts expect to boom in the upcoming years and how you can integrate them in your career.
IT and technology skills are in high demand, and this trend will last for many more years. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics experts, employment in computer and IT fields is expected to grow by 15% by 2031, creating around 680 thousand new jobs. However, IT specialists will have to adjust to rapidly shifting technologies.
Data is still king
Our life nowadays is based on data: all marketing strategies that come to our houses when we buy groceries, subscribe to a streaming platform or see an ad in social media and then decide to get the product – all that is based on data. So, it is something that is really buzzing right now and will be for quite some time. According to US News and World Report in 2022, information security analysts, software developers, data scientists, and statisticians ranked among the top 10 (out of 100) jobs, and The Quant Crunch predicts that significant growth in data-related jobs in the years to come.
New technologies create new roles
New technologies develop with an ultrasonic speed these days, and new challenges and opportunities arise. The World Economic Forum (WEF) report said that AI automation will create 97 million new jobs by 2025, including AI learning trainers/scientists, AI developers, and more. We don't know yet how exactly these new jobs will be different from previous, more familiar roles; however, according to TEKsystems 2022 report, IoT, AI, and machine learning will be on top of the list for the upcoming years. These emerging technologies and IT fields will create new positions requiring a convergence of IT skills we haven't seen before.
Hybrid roles
With many organizations undergoing digital transformations, technical skills, as well as soft and communicative skills, are highly appreciated for creating hybrid roles. These jobs include AI and Machine Learning, IoT, Big Data, Visual Communications, Product Management, Digital Marketing, Video Production, NLP (Natural Language Processing), Industrial Design, Compliance, and so on. These roles demand a combination of technical skills and traditional knowledge. For example, a UI designer must not only know how to design a user interface but also how to write content. An IT specialist who codes needs to understand how to use the data to create better software. The research held by Burning Glass highlights the fact that 42% of traditional jobs can be automated, and only 12% of hybrid jobs can be automated.
Developers are still in demand
Despite the rise of website builder programs and the popularity of low-code or no-code tools, development will continue to be one of the top skills in the IT market. According to BLS (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), there will be a 24% growth in software developer jobs by the year 2026. IT departments will demand both scripting and object-oriented coding languages, the ability to work with application program interfaces (APIs), and agile and DevOps methodologies.
Cybersecurity professionals gap
The Global Information Security Workforce Study (GISWS), conducted by the Center for Cyber Safety and Education and the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, showed a shortage of cybersecurity professionals, and the gap will grow.
"2022 is a highly formative year for the cybersecurity profession. Shaped and defined by geo-political and macroeconomic turbulence, the obstacles of the modern cybersecurity landscape have galvanized passion and persistence within its workforce - which continues to change and evolve with the world around it. The global cybersecurity workforce is growing, but so is the gap in professionals needed to carry out its critical mission. We estimate the size of the global cybersecurity workforce at 4.7 million people – the highest we've ever recorded. According to our research, however, the cybersecurity field is still critically in need of more professionals. To adequately protect cross-industrial enterprises from increasingly complex modern threats, organizations are trying to fill the worldwide gap of 3.4 million cybersecurity workers."
Access management, risk analysis, penetration testing, and other key cybersecurity skills will stay valuable in the upcoming years. So, times change and so does technology, and professional life as well. Read our related article about the top online courses and find the study programs to broaden your professional horizons.