A study published by Randstad, a group of Dutch companies specializing in human resources (HR), claims that digital transformation is changing at a rapid pace. The speed of adoption of new technologies leads to the growth of jobs defined or influenced by these new digital systems. And overall, jobs in the digital sector have made up a significant portion of all jobs posted online over the past decade. Among the digital jobs included in the report, software developers, programmers, and engineers are in high demand.
The demand for digital skills is growing rapidly
The study was conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in collaboration with Randstad. She looked at 417 million online job postings in 10 countries over the past decade to illustrate how the digital transition is affecting the labor market. The report indicates that the demand for digital roles increased significantly over the study period. Jobs requiring digital skills account for 6-12% of all job vacancies posted online in the ten countries covered in the report, and this share is growing.
The report studied job vacancies in the following countries: France, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Spain, United States, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Singapore. A quick breakdown of the data shows, for example, that job postings for digital roles in the US increased by 24% between 2018 and 2021, led by a 116% increase in postings for data engineers. In France, this demand has increased by 66% over the last four years. And 7% of jobs published online concern digital professions, a level slightly lower than that of the other European countries analysed.
According to the report’s authors, the trend towards the digital workplace offers rich opportunities for employers and employees, but there are obvious challenges to be faced and overcome along the way. Business leaders will face fierce competition to hire and retain top talent. Keeping up with labor market trends related to technology and digital skills will be crucial. As for regulators and governments, the report says they need to invest in helping the workforce acquire the digital skills needed to thrive in future labor markets.
They should identify the most important skills and the occupations that require them. Education systems will also need to adapt to ensure that schools, colleges and universities develop a digital-ready workforce. The digital transformation is moving at a rapid pace. Digital technologies are not an add-on to the way we work – they are embedded in the way we work, changing what we are able to do, as well as how we do it, says Terry O’Leary, Vice President executive of Randstad Technologies.
The most sought-following digital profiles by companies
The pace of digital transformation is not limited to the demand for professionals in digital professions. Most importantly, it changes the skills workers will need to thrive in these jobs. The study shows that the demand for typical digital skills has spread across different professions and industries faster than for other skills over the past decade. Professions that only a few years ago did not use digital tools or required digital skills are becoming increasingly digital.
Software developers, programmers and engineers are particularly sought following. In the UK, around two in three online job vacancies for IT professionals are looking for software developers and programmers. In Canada, Singapore and Spain, software developers and engineers account for almost 50% of job openings for IT professionals. In Germany and France, the share of vacancies for software developers and programmers is slightly lower, but still considerable, at 37% and 36% respectively.
According to the report, IT and data analysts or administrators make up regarding one-fifth of selected digital occupations in the ten countries analyzed. Jobs such as ICT technicians and data entry clerks represent a smaller fraction of all online job vacancies in all countries. They are below 20% for all countries, and as low as 7% in Germany and 9% in Belgium. The report examines the speed at which five categories of digital skills have filtered through the job market.
The study also reveals that knowledge around the GNU/Linux Ubuntu distribution is in high demand in countries such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The most sought-following technical skills are programming languages such as Java and JavaScript, as well as computer-aided engineering (CAE) software, which are related to automation. According to the report, JavaScript is particularly popular in France, Germany and the Netherlands. The CSS is also one of the qualifications most sought following by recruiters within the European Union, particularly in France.
Dramatic increase in demand for certain skills
- advanced data analysis : The demand for data analysis has spread through jobs 15.5 times faster than the demand for the average skill. In the United States, the pace is 15 times faster than for average skills and 5 times faster in Singapore;
- cybersecurity : The growing risk of cyberattacks has prompted an increase in investments in security and risk management, leading to an increase in the hiring of workers with cybersecurity skills. In the US, demand is spreading across professional roles more than 10 times faster than demand for the average skill, while in the UK the pace is 6.6 times faster;
- programming : Programming skills are also in high demand as they play a key role in various rapidly growing job categories. In the United States and the United Kingdom, demand has spread between 6 and 9 times faster than for the average skill, while it is slower in Canada and Singapore;
- automation and the internet of things (IoT) : Automation and IoT skills are spreading up to 6 times faster on average than demand for other skills, fueled by the growing popularity of smart home products, and smart gadgets such as watches connect. The pace was particularly fast in the UK and the US, respectively 6 to 7 times faster than the skill average;
- digital skills related to business and selling : As digital technologies are used in almost all productive sectors of the economy, there are growing needs for a range of related skills. The demand for digital skills related to business and sales has diffused into different jobs 8.5 times faster than average, with the strongest growth in social media skills. The distribution of requests for programming skills increased 8 times faster than the average, while that of computer automation skills increased 6 times faster;
- web and social media : A rapidly growing number of companies are looking for people with social media management skills. In the UK and US, the demand for social media skills grew up to 14 times faster than the demand for average skills between 2012 and 2021. Digital jobs requiring a mix of high-level technical and cognitive skills also increased. Knowledge of web analytics tools is also in high demand, due to the expansion of e-commerce.
Source : Study report (PDF)
And you?
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