About 27.3 million workers, representing 7% of the country’s workforce, will require digital skills training for their jobs over the next year, as demand for such skills, especially cloud-related skills, became more acute during the pandemic, according to a new report.
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The report – Building Digital Skills for the changing workforce, has been prepared by AlphaBeta and commissioned by AWS. It is based on a survey of 1,012 digitally skilled workers in both technology and non-technology roles, and 303 employers in India, with representation from the public, private, and non-profit sectors.
“The need for digital skills training became more acute during the pandemic, with 95% of the workers in India reporting they need more digital skills – the ability and knowledge to apply digital technologies for tasks in the workplace – to cope with changes in their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report stated, adding that over the next year, the number of workers requiring digital skills for their jobs was projected to increase by 27.3 million.
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Use of cloud-based tools
However, despite this, only 45% of the employers have a training plan in place, which could affect their competitiveness in such areas as productivity, innovation, and employee retention. The report noted that the ability to use cloud-based tools such as cloud developer tools, as well as online collaboration, accounting, and customer relationship management (CRM) software would be the most in-demand skill required by the employers by 2025, followed by technical support skills and cybersecurity skills.
“The need for more advanced cloud computing skills, including machine learning and cloud architecture design, which have emerged as the fifth and sixth most in demand digital skills by employers in India by 2025. These skills are expected to be in high demand in businesses from healthcare to agriculture, fintech to media and entertainment,” it pointed out.
About 63% of the workers felt they would require training in cloud-related skills by 2025 to progress in their careers.
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More training
Genevieve Lim, Director for APAC, AlphaBeta (part of Access Partnership), said, “While the need for digital skills has been growing for years, research shows that job changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated the need for more training for both tech and non-tech workers on digital capabilities in India”.
Ms. Lim stressed that organisations have accelerated their digitisation process to cope with the pandemic and ensured their long-term competitiveness. “Transitioning into a digital-first economy will help countries’ recovery from COVID-19 and secure a stronger economic future. There is an urgent need for the governments to work together with employers, training providers, and workers to meet these diverse and growing digital learning needs,” she observed.
Amit Mehta, Head of AWS Training and Certification, AISPL, AWS India, and South Asia, remarked that the AWS was investing hundreds of millions of dollars globally to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people and has already trained over one million of individuals in India with cloud skills since 2017.
The report found that lack of time to pursue training was the most commonly faced barrier to digital skilling, with 77% of workers in the country citing this. Other reasons include limited awareness of training options, low training quality and high training costs.