In a burgeoning economy that has been characterized by almost constant change, employees have taken cognizance of the need to remain relevant amidst a technological revolution. Over the last year, several conversations have been kick-started around the need for upskilling and reskilling, with companies and employees alike taking proactive steps towards the same. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, 50% of employees worldwide will need reskilling as technology adoption increases – and this need has likely only increased given the pandemic. In a recent survey by global outplacement firm Randstad RiseSmart, it was found that 77% of companies that offer skilling, make it available to all of their employees which likely means employers in India recognize how rapidly the world of work and job market are evolving and, as a result, are embracing skilling.

According to the global study which surveyed HR professionals and employees across several regions including India, five skills are required to future-proof one's workforce in a post pandemic world, with AI and blockchain being named in the top 5. 

As businesses seek to give their users an enhanced experience, technology and predictive tools are playing a critical role in enabling the same. To this extent, AI has emerged as one of the hottest skills to have, and its demand is only set to increase as technology adoption continues. Being a highly scientific field, employees seeking to upskill in this area have taken on a pragmatic approach that translates knowledge into real-world skills and helps them develop capabilities to create data sets, build machine learning models, and use Python and/or R programming to deliver measurable results.

What was initially designed to be a technology to support Bitcoins has now evolved into a revolutionary means of handling data and doing business in a digital world. As the demand for blockchain technologies in daily operations increases, so has the demand for resources with a strong knowledge of the same. Within this space, employers have laid emphasis on identifying and recruiting talent with a strong knowledge of understanding cryptography, distributed computing, security and consensus algorithms.

Skilling Today is a global report by Randstad RiseSmart. Among a global pool of 1,099 HR professionals and 1,142 employees, across eight countries and 20 industries, the survey took into consideration 152 HR professionals and 154 individual employees from India, representing businesses of all sizes.