Companies set to re-design job roles due to the massive skills shortage
Shine.com, an Indian job portal, recently conducted a survey mapping major HR trends for 2019. The survey revealed interesting insights into the evolving jobs landscape and its implications on the nature of jobs across industries. According to the survey, nearly half (47 %) of senior HR professionals are predicting a skills shortage in the country in the near future. As a result, over one-third (37%) are focusing on redesigning jobs to accommodate swiftly changing trends.
As organizations rapidly adopt technology to streamline processes and make them more efficient, traditional job roles are undergoing a massive transformation. Diversified job roles that require more wide-ranging skill sets are emerging. For instance, data related roles are fast-evolving as companies realize the importance of the goldmine of data they are sitting on. Therefore, companies are looking to hire Senior Data Science leaders who possess expertise in data science, and at the same time can understand the business and functional needs to create a strategic roadmap that can leverage the vast data collated by the company for business growth.
Similarly, companies that previously hired traditionally-skilled brand marketers are now eyeing new-age communications experts who can oversee digital marketing, social media, SEO, SEM, influencer marketing, website development, and more. Companies are, therefore, looking for Marketers who can wear multiple hats while delivering multi-dimensional brand communication.
On the other hand, while jobs like UI/UX designing were largely technical in the past, these roles now require a degree of interpersonal skills. Designers must be able to understand the end user's stated and unstated requirements in order to ensure that they are delivering a digital experience that is most suited to their preferences. They need to be able to connect, collaborate, adapt, and improve products and systems based on these customer needs.
Further, UI/UX designers who possess data expertise and can look at UI/UX studies and user flows, and then adapt designs basis the information will be more in demand than traditional designers. The above-mentioned examples make it clear that jobs are transforming at an accelerated pace, and job seekers need to follow suit in order to stay relevant within the rapidly-changing jobs market.
As the skill demand in the job landscape moves towards a more tech-centric approach, candidates will also need to modify their job applications, CV and resume formats. Traditional CVs can no longer be expected to stand out of the clutter. A lot of skills from different functional areas must be combined into one role in order to appeal to organizations. Since a candidate may not have all the requisite skills, the aptitude to learn is also becoming an essential skill. Hence, candidates need to go beyond the skills they possess and also highlight their strengths and proxy skills that can show an aptitude for acquiring new skills to remain relevant in the quickly-evolving jobs landscape.
Speaking on the changing job trends, Zairus Master, CEO, Shine.com, said, “As new job roles enter the market, we are already seeing job descriptions evolve. Skills which wouldn’t typically be found in the same role earlier are now being combined to create more multidimensional profiles. Hence, the traditional resume formats are now becoming irrelevant. Jobseekers will need to amplify the appeal of their resumes by highlighting the relevant job skills that they possess. For instance, data entry professionals will now need to acquire data science skills to be able to land high-value jobs. At this juncture, upskilling/reskilling is a good option for professionals looking to augment their career growth trajectory.”
Shine.com further emphasized the urgent need to upskill/reskill the workforce to meet the evolving nature of jobs. More than half (54.05%) of the HR professionals surveyed mentioned that they will invest in large-scale upskilling/reskilling in their organizations. Further, until the skills of the workforce are aligned with business goals, 38.04% of the respondents will focus on developing a rewards strategy to attract and retain gig economy workers.
However, since upskilling/reskilling is a relatively gradual process, the focus of organizations will remain on revamping job profiles and hiring professionals who can fulfill these multi-faceted job roles that are more demanding and skill-based than ever before.
