The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) plans to reskill 1.5 million to 2 million people in the IT industry over the next 4 to 5 years.
Work is under way with members / partners to establish a comprehensive digital skilling platform, Nasscom Chairman Raman Roy and President R. Chandrashekar said here on Thursday.
“Considering the evolution of the industry is happening due to the adoption of new technologies, it is imperative that we as an industry drive the skilling and reskilling of new and existing talent,” Mr. Chandrashekar said.
Big data analytics, cloud and cyber security services, IoT, service delivery automation, robotics, AI/Machine Learning and NLP figure in the list of new skills. The new job roles pertain to cyber security, mobile App development, new user interfaces, social media and platform engineering.
New age skills
Mr. Roy said 55 new age skills expected to be in demand have been identified. Apart from reskilling the workforce Nasscom would reach out to colleges, under the train the trainer programme, to create awareness of the new requirements among the faculty members, he added.
Noting that changing jobs availability is not unique to the IT sector, Mr. Chandrashekar said: “It is actually happening in every sector... it is happening at a much faster pace in the IT sector.”
To assess the situation across industries and suggest ways to address the challenge, the Nasscom and trade and industry body FICCI are conducting a joint study. The exercise would help in “how we respond... overcome these challenges and hold lessons, hopefully positive, but maybe some negative also, for every other sector,” he said.
Along with vice chairman Rishad Premji, they were briefing mediapersons on the Nasscom guidance for the IT-BPM industry for the current financial year.
Annual outlook
It was for the first time the Nasscom was announcing its annual outlook in Hyderabad, Mr. Roy said, adding the decision to do so is a precursor to the focus set to remain on the city over the next 8 to 12 months. Hyderabad will play host to various programmes of the Nasscom as well as the prestigious World Congress on IT, which is coming to India for the first time. “Hyderabad is emerging as a big centre where changes are being incubated...” he declared.
As part of its outreach to newer markets, the Nasscom would be showcasing digital solutions of the industry in Japan, Germany, China, Middle East and Africa, Mr. Chandrashekhar said.
