The global labor market is adopting new technologies revolutionizing the employment structure and IT job profiles
Technology today has allowed automation of routine tasks, and this could disrupt the balance between job responsibilities as delivered by machines with algorithms, and humans. With smart technology becoming mainstream, it’s essential to consider the impact of such technologies on our society and workforce.
Industries Fight Automation Hypochondria in the Tech Industrial Age
IDC’s latest report on full-time employment for the ICT, first Worldwide Technology Employment Impact Guide released in December 2019, and the sector has its sights set on IT organizational transformation. Employment structure is transforming away from typical IT maintenance support jobs, especially as focus now lies on their “digital transformation” objectives.
Digital Transformation has created more job profiles that are focused on developing and extracting the utility and value of information, making business operations more responsive. Digitalization accelerates workforce optimization and transformation, applying a multidimensional and omnipresent ecosystem approach to customer experience. Such digitalization helps to optimize services, products, and expertise delivering value to customers, partners, and employees.
The IDC report revealed that digital transformation had created a shift toward data intelligence roles. The IT skillset needed to deliver the digital transformation projects is changing, with some of the fast-growing demand for IT roles centered on data-driven intelligence. The global workforce is moving away from IT installation and maintenance roles and more towards positions that can build database architecture and functionality. These will allow companies to derive intelligent insights from an organization’s DX efforts.
The digital transformation journey is a signifier of changing corporate aspirations. IDC has announced that the digital transformation-related efforts by organizations are already mainstream. Currently, 40% of ICT job roles are full-time digital transformation jobs, according to IDC. By the end of 2023, IDC expects that number to reach 52%.
Women Workers Will Be Most Hit Once AI Becomes the Norm
IDC found that the fastest 5-year job growth is associated with cybersecurity jobs at 9.6%, while traditional IT technical jobs will be mostly flat with a 0.1% CAGR.
The report announced the fastest-growing ICT roles as follows:
- Data scientist (13.7% CAGR)
- Machine learning design, engineer, development (13.7% CAGR)
- Data engineer (12.9% CAGR)
IT organizational transformation will be the most critical change for driving the success of the enterprise. IDC expects full-time ICT jobs to reach up to 55.3 million globally in 2020, which would be a 3.9% increase over the 2019 number. The number of ICT jobs globally is expected to reach 62 million in 2023 per IDC’s prediction.
The largest group in IDC’s report is the applications group which comprises of software development and management. This is followed by the IT/technical group with graphics, multimedia, and Web design roles and the technical support group.
Security Trends Enterprises Need to Watch Out For
Over the last two decades, the use of new technology has caused a few IT roles to disappear while also creating new, previously unheard of job titles. In the near future too, digital transformation will disrupt the current labor market and the future of the workforce. This digital transformation, if managed wisely, could create a new age of good jobs, good work, and improved standard of living for all. But, if handled poorly, this could pose the risk of widening skills gaps, greater inequality, and broader polarization.
