Why transformation of technology skills holds the key to navigating the future of workplace

Technical skills expertise across work profiles will become critical for driving productivity in the future of work. 

In brief

• In today’s ever-changing work landscape, having technical skills is essential for the workforce to maintain a competitive edge. 
• Companies are revamping talent amid increased complexity of tech skills.
• Consequently, companies are investing in data and intelligence capabilities to build a competitive workforce.

The workplace is changing as a result of digital and AI-powered technology, forcing the workforce to pick up new, in-demand skills tech skills and prepare for jobs of the future. Now more than ever, technical skills of the future are essential to succeeding and remaining competitive in any industry. The future of work will be closely linked to the transformative potential of tech skills organically emerging across all job roles.

EY and iMocha’s latest report ‘Tech skills transformation: navigating the future of work by 2025 and beyond’ analyzes how tech skills are set to evolve in the coming years across all job roles, including traditionally non-tech roles. The report validates the following three key insights:

1.  Technology skills are permeating every job role, regardless of industry or function

Every sector and job will soon (if they have not already) be heavily reliant on cutting-edge technology. To be more adaptive and prepared for changes in the future, it would be important to nurture tech skills early on.

2.  Increased complexity of tech skills is necessitating companies to revamp their talent for the future

With the increased use of various technologies, the complexity of skills across functional areas (software engineering, IT, and business application power user) is expanding. 28% of organizations estimate that in order to remain competitive, they will need to revamp digital skills for a third of their talent base by 2025. Of the ~28% organizations that believe over 35% of the tech roles will require skills transformation, the majority are from India (50%) and UK/EU (50%).

3.  Companies are investing in developing real-time visibility into the organizational inventory of skills

For the future of work, organizations are realizing the strategic importance of skills as a competitive advantage. In response to the growing need for tech skills across job roles and its increasing complexity, they are investing in data and intelligence capabilities to stay ahead of the curve. Skills intelligence is empowering businesses by providing firms with a centralized source of information on tech and business skills. Through data visibility, which is updated in real-time and accessible to the entire organization, the intelligence is used to optimize decision-making across strategic analysis and operational workflows.

The need to build technical skills of the future results in differentiated prerogatives at each level:

1. For individual professionals: 'Power user/developer' tech skills are now expected of every job role.
2. For HR leaders: Keeping pace with the tech skills transformation requires a multi-disciplinary approach, with a focus on developing granular real-time intelligence on an organization's skills inventory.
3. For organizations: To remain competitive, it is essential to unlock on-ground productivity benefits of new technologies. To achieve this, tech skills should be prioritized across business functions and job roles.