Upskill in these in-demand technologies in 2022

The overall technological landscape in India is changing at an unprecedented speed. The pandemic has taught businesses in India about the importance of digitization, automation, and analytics and how they can help in optimizing cost, drastically improving organizational efficiency and improve ROI. Besides the pandemic, the growing thrust from programs such as Digital India & Start-up India and an expanding start-up ecosystem is also making tectonic shifts. 

As a, result many old technologies are now becoming redundant, while demand is rising for new skillsets and practice areas. Mentioned below are some of the technologies, which are in high demand and can help you land a high-paying job. 

Cyber Security: Due to the unprecedented rise in digitization and usage of data, the instances of cyber threats are also rising fast. Increasingly hackers and cyber criminals are trying to access critical data and information. This has necessitated the need for proficient cyber security professionals such as network security engineers, cyber security analysts, cyber security architects, information security managers, etc. Cyber security is still a niche domain and talent is limited in the field. However, their demand will continue to rise exponentially in the times to come and there will good offers for proficient professionals.  

Blockchain: NFTs, Cryptocurrencies, and Metaverse are registering a sharp rise, which will also translate into the demand for blockchain professionals. In 2019, the total investment in blockchain technologies amounted to USD 2.7 billion. In 2023, the total investments are expected to cross USD 16 billion, further underscoring the growing importance of blockchain technologies. As blockchain is becoming mainstream, the demand for blockchain developers with capabilities to develop blockchain-specific systems will also rise. Besides, there will be increased demand for blockchain web developers who can design and implement user interfaces and apps across platforms.  

Artificial Intelligence (AI): In tandem with global growth, the demand for AI (and other data scientist roles) will continue to pick up in India. As per the global recruitment agency Michael Page, data science and AI are one of the fastest growing job categories in the world and by 2026, there will be 11.5 million professionals required in the domain. A sizable part of the demand will come from emerging economies like India. Most organizations in India are implementing wide-scale digitization. This is resulting in the heightened demand for data scientists and analysts that can translate large volumes of data into actionable insights. This is a very lucrative segment and computer professionals/ mathematicians/ statisticians should try to upskill in the area.  

Cloud Professionals: As organizations are now shifting critical data into the cloud, the demand for professionals with knowledge of cloud computing, cloud migration, Azure technologies, cloud security, etc. will continue to increase at an exponential pace. As per the Indian job portal Monster, in 2021 around 10% of the recruitment in the IT sector were cloud-related. A similar uptrend will continue in 2022 as well. NASSCOM has estimated that by 2026, close to 2 million jobs in India will be in the domain of clouds. Not just the volume is high but it is a good paying job.  

IoT Professionals: Increasingly various industries in India such as power, logistics, construction, chemicals, healthcare, etc. are now using IoT-based systems to monitor and operate their networks of machinery & equipment. Consequently, the demand for professionals with expertise in IoT is also picking up fast in the country. IoT professionals are getting high-paying jobs as network architects, hardware specialists, security professionals, etc. It is still a nascent industry, which is further driving demand for top talents. 

The author is Jitendra Joshi, Director, Probity Software