Global Village 2.0: Need for skilled labourers rise

Disruptive technologies are changing our lives and there is increasing hype on AI, Automation, Robotics taking up jobs that humans do. It is important to recognise that while these technology shifts are real, jobs will continue to grow, and the big imperative is to skill, reskill and reskill again so that countries and businesses can succeed in the new economy. Digital skills are the currency of future societies and digital skills while needed in technology jobs are equally in demand in other sectors.

Clearly, there’s an existing skill gap globally, but are we taking appropriate steps to bridge this for the future? A global study by Capgemini revealed that 55 per cent of organisations had acknowledged that not only was there a huge gap but it was widening as well. When seen from different geographies: 70 per cent of US companies acknowledged the skill gap, India — 64 per cent, UK — 57 per cent, Germany — 55 per cent, France 52 per cent, and so on. What is even starker according to Gartner, this gap will not be bridged so easily. It goes on to add that even in 2020, 30 per cent of tech jobs will be unfulfilled owing to unavailability of relevant talent in digital. Companies worldwide will have to quickly realise what these niche skills are and look at a short-medium term recourse. Talent mobility will address the short-term challenges, but there’s no escaping the intense and focused re-skilling drive that all nations will have to undergo.

The foundational skills required to ace the opportunities of digital revolution is in the ability to expand the STEM talent pool. US, the leader in innovation and technology is witnessing STEM degrees grow by less than 1 per cent each year, while there is a 1.4 million person gap in 2020 between software development jobs and qualified US applicants. UK has a shortage of 40,000 STEM graduates that is estimated to be an opportunity loss of 63 billion pounds annually in additional GDP. If you drill down to the next level, the skill gap becomes even more glaring. Demand for AI and Data Scientist jobs exceeds supply by 2 to 1, cybersecurity skills shortage is estimated at a high 3 million over the next three years and in jobs like DevOps and Cloud Architecture, there are more vacancies than candidates.

Clearly, no one country or company can meet these challenges in isolation. As we look at what are the opportunities for global collaborations that lie ahead, the one thing that stands out for me is the opportunity to focus on digital skilling and the imperative for skilled talent mobility, without linking it to immigration.

India’s tech sector is equally focused on building its digital capabilities and upskill its STEM talent. With almost $25 billion digital revenues and half a million trained digital professionals, the industry is rapidly becoming a digital solutions partner for global corporation. This industry shift is aided by changing business models, which include building a global talent pool of domain and tech professionals, setting up innovation centres in key markets, acquisitions for new tech and creative design and partnerships with startups. The industry is equally focused on skilling and reskilling initiatives globally. From research partnerships with leading global universities, STEM programmes at university, internships, state-level engagements, scholarships and societal initiatives, skilling is the top agenda for the sector.

We have been saying it for a while, but just to reinforce, there are nine new emerging technologies at interplay — Social/Mobile, Cloud, Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, VR, 3D printing and Cyber Security. Further, this array will result in 55 new job roles and the bulwark will be provided by 155 distinct skills. In reality, this is already underway even as you read this column. We all agree that the speed of change of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is unprecedented and a huge step-up in innovative thinking, including re-skilling. Or else, we will miss the bus.

Similarly, if you think of skilled talent mobility, it is a win-win scenario for countries, companies and citizens. The idea of innovation is a layered one. For instance, the three nations of India, US and Israel have very matured startup ecosystems, but the kind of innovation that comes out is very different. India can lay a strong claim to application innovation, whereas, in Israel, it’s a case of sustainable innovation and the US is often bracketed with breakthrough innovation. There’s tremendous opportunity for nations to collaborate, transfer IP, share best practices, deploy talent and complement one another; this can only happen when talent is not constricted by geographical boundaries and immigration laws, which are punitive.

So, as we look ahead and grapple with all the changes around us — technology, business models, a hyper connected world, the new war for new tech skills, let us focus on partnerships that will unlock growth and create new opportunities.

The writer is the president of Nasscom. Views are personal.