Top 5 Most In-Demand Skills in the Post-Covid Times

^{Exponential growth in the service sector has enabled Indian economy to progress at a galloping pace. But ironically, the year 2019 alone stood witness to a time when 53% of Indian businesses were incapable of recruiting personnel owing to a dearth of future-focused skill-sets. With the terrible pandemic at large, the employment figures have dwindled even further. The inherent skill gap that is prevalent amongst the industry and the academia with respect to future skills was recognized as the primary cause for this vast surfeit of unfilled positions in the corporate industry.}      

 ^{The service sector is chiefly dependent on an adept and proficient task force. The seemingly synergetic convergence of business operation and technological innovation has become the revered norm for companies across the globe with a major percentage of jobs being ascribed knowledge-centric. Going further, an expected rise in the employability gap seems only natural as a plethora of job verticals gradually shift towards advanced tech-methodologies that run on advanced technologies and futuristic skill-sets. And this extends not only to conventional tech domains like IT/ITeS but also non technical fields like Banking and financial services, the manufacturing industry, pharma and healthcare, telecommunications and infrastructure.}  

 ^{Take for starters, the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance industry. The BFSI sector has seen a comprehensive revolution in terms of enhanced productivity, customer satisfaction and business outreach; all thanks to the advent of digitization. The BFSI machinery is churning more and more employment prospects within banks, insurance firms, lending organizations, and financial service providers.} 

 ^{Nevertheless, an astounding 80% of the nation’s engineering graduates were found unfit for knowledge-centric positions as revealed by the employability survey of 2019. The survey further showed that only 4.6% of the country’s total engineers were proficient in coding.}

^{In a nutshell, a vast number of candidates who applied for jobs in the BFSI sector were found untrained and unqualified unprepared for the latest wave of jobs that demand fluidity in futuristic skills and technologies. This enormous gap is most apparent in new-age tech verticals like UX design, cyber security, AI, Data Analytics, Blockchain, etc.}

^{Or take for instance, the pharma and health services sector which also constitutes subdivisions such as pharma manufacturing, ecommerce, hospital, clinical and allied health service providers. Moreover, India is credited with being the highest provider of general drugs and medicines around the world and Indian pharma companies provide over 50% of the worldwide demand for several vaccinations. In terms of skill enhancement, the Indian pharma and health-tech vertical is a hugely underserved vertical.}

 ^{This is a huge sector which is highly underserved in terms of skill enhancement. It is fair to conclude that more and more proficiency roles will need to be created as technology and innovation are further integrated in the process of manufacturing drugs and operating our healthcare services. This will naturally demand adeptness in various next-gen technological fields such as AI, ML, IoT, data analytics and ecommerce management.}  

 ^{Here are the top five skills in-demand in the industry:}

 ^{1. UX Design}

 ^{Whether making digital products such as apps, websites and web portals more worthy, functional and comprehensible for end users, you need a sound working knowledge in UX designing. Almost everything that we do today, no matter professional or personal, relies on a digital device and the internet, from grocery shopping to chatting up with distant relatives or interacting with a colleague.}

^{It is all dependent on a digital interface. UX designers help in making these technologies usable and accessible for the general masses. No wonder, it one of the most sought-after professions in the employment vista today, with its applications dispersed equally along numerous verticals like IT, banks, insurance companies, pharma companies, etc.}

^{2. Data Science}

 ^{It has already been established that data is the new oil as well as the new gold. It is omnipresent and has application in every sphere, whether business or non-commercial. The rapidly accelerating technological advancement has seemingly catalyzed a colossal eruption of data that enables global organizations with enhanced product-designing capabilities, earn more revenue and optimize better strategies by constantly analyzing the collated data. With such vast reserves of collected data in store, it is natural for organizations to face trouble in gathering, stowing, and utilizing and making sense of all this data that is pouring in. Therefore, data analysts and scientists have a crucial part to play for budding companies and command a substantial array of job positions and designations for diverse industry verticals.}

^{3. Fintech product manager}

 ^{Banking and financial services sector have always been at the forefront of pioneering technology adoption. Several financial service startups and traditional banking and insurance companies have been time-honored comrades of the digital revolution. Yet, new-age business models and methodologies demand professionals who are well-versed not only with the commercial aspect of financial services but also grasp the essence of customer satisfaction, design, and technology. Thus, product managers who can expertly amalgamate the components of business, design and technology are of great demand in the multiple industries.}

^{4. Health-tech managers}

 ^{Like other sectors, the health sector is also marked with a significant technological eruption. Conventional pharma firms alongside emergent start-ups are resolute on resolving health ecosystem problems for patients, care givers and medical practitioners around the globe. Therefore, digitally-adept professionals with a considerable background in healthcare and health services are of high demand.}

^{5. Blockchain experts}

 ^{Similarly, new-age technologies such as Blockchain offers big-scale implementation prospects in supply chain, logistics, contracting and other verticals. However, due to limited real- time and practical implementation owing to a dearth of trainer resources have made this  a sought-after and high paying job skill to possess.}

 ^{(The author is Prof. Col. Shishir Kumar, Director, ImaginXP and the views expressed in the article are his own)}