Every new year, we are introduced to new learning and job trends for the year ahead.
Organisations and experts put in all their time and effort to develop a predictive list that set up the course for working and learning population for the year that follows.
2020 has made it certain that change is inevitable and resisting it won’t help. So what do we do? We update our knowledge, reskill and upskill to stay relevant.
Udemy recently released a report revealing the latest learning trends and specific skills for 2021. These are identified based on what more than 40 million people are learning on Udemy globally. The ‘2021 Workplace Learning Trends Report’ states the top 5 trending skills for each region in the APAC area.
As for India, the top 5 trending skills recognized are:
- Microsoft AZ-900
- Software testing
- IELTS
- Microsoft certification
- Email etiquette
The data presented in this report is based on the learning behaviour of thousands of global companies using the Udemy for Business platform and a survey of over 500 L&D professionals.
The report highlights the Top Trends in the Asia Pacific region as follows:
Hybrid Tech Roles In Demand
Of all the important things we learned in the last year, this has to be on the top. Hybrid is the way to go. One man one job rule is a thing of past, and today’s employers are looking for skilled people in multiple domains. Many technical teams are moving employees away from single domain expertise. Instead, a hybrid role is becoming the norm. Adding value to the same context, Deloitte says, “Your technical employees don’t necessarily need to become masters of all. There may always be some need for hyper-specialised roles. But in most cases, anyone involved with software development should expect their career path to reflect the principle of ‘learning in the flow of life'”.
It has become increasingly important that employees build their expertise in more than one subject of their job function. Leaders encourage their employees to upskill and be prepared and stay relevant in the demanding times we’re leaning towards.
As per the report, “The technical skills related to this trend, like software testing and infrastructure architecture, saw sizable growth in countries across the APAC region — including over 5,200% year-over-year growth in Japan.”
As companies continue to emphasise hybrid roles, we can expect seeing more need and demand for related skills like DevOps and cloud computing.
Collaboration is the top priority for remote workers
The remote job became the thing in 2020. People were not prepared to make the switch, were left with no option but to learn and upgrade to the remote jobs. It was a necessity that has brought forward the importance of reskilling, Upskilling and embracing change for our own good.
Organisations bring multiple teams together to solve complex problems to come up with innovative solutions. The shift to remote jobs have been increasing in the last few years, and the COVID situation accelerated the much-needed push. This calls for a new range of new behaviours and skills. Leaders across various industries prioritised solutions that brought teams from different areas and enabled them to collaborate effectively.
To this situation, Sprintkick founder and Udemy instructor Evan Kimbrell say, “COVID-19 has accelerated the shift from ‘remote-accessible’ to ‘remote-first’ thinking in collaboration design.”
As per this report, throughout the Asia Pacific region, collaboration has been a major priority for all taking the top spot for year-over-year growth in India, Singapore, and Indonesia. To this sure shot existence and growing nature of remote work, it has become essential that organisations help their employees develop related skills like business communication and listening to succeed in this environment, which is here to stay.
It seems to prepare yourself for future challenges; developing tomorrow’s skills must be a priority today. Organisations also need to consider the challenges they will face to strive in the future. Hence, they are equally responsible for ensuring that they are ready with a relevant workforce and equipped with the needed skills.
Organisations must suggest their technical teams to learn skills to break out of silos and prepare them for the technological changes. Along with the tech skills, what binds it all together is collaboration. Therefore, leaders must encourage everyone to develop collaboration skills to serve them in both remote and co-located work environments.
