The COVID-19 pandemic has given a huge blow to the global economy and as a result, caused massive loss of lives and livelihoods. The economic and social disruption has destroyed millions of jobs and also put millions of businesses at risk. A “Future of Jobs Report 2020” by the World Economic Forum indicates that 85 million jobs might become redundant and 50% of all workers will need reskilling by 2025. This reskilling requirement will go up to more than 1 Billion people by 2030. However, the report contains a silver lining by estimating that even more jobs, around 97 Million will emerge that are more amenable to the interplay between humans, technologies, and algorithms.
Notably, the report indicates that in the next 2 years, 42% of the skills needed to perform existing jobs will change with interpersonal skills having importance. The report cites critical thinking and problem-solving as the employers’ most desired skills over the next 5 years.
Similarly, there is a question which skills would be in demand during 2021.
This blog by Mr. Atul Mahajan, Director of Trendsetters Facilities and Technical Services Pvt Ltd India’s top manpower outsourcing company talks about the top in-demand employability skills for 2021.
Analytical Thinking and Complex Problem Solving
This is about having the mental flexibility to solve problems never seen before and being able to solve them rapidly and efficiently. More than 60% of recruiters emphasize problem-solving as a key determinant towards a favorable hiring decision. The very essence of problem-solving lies in the fact that it is interlinked with decision making and hence has the ability to impact almost all the functions within an enterprise.
Innovation
This is like being mental flexibility with an ability to think in various ways and having a cognitive ability like swing, leap and twirl back and forth between several systems of thought, seeing new patterns, and making unique links between ideas. Employers value innovation as a crucial skill because innovators make sure that the organization is one step ahead of evolving workplace trends and technological advances. As an outcome, innovators are critical to maximizing global connectivity and meeting buyer expectations.
Negotiation
Negotiation is an important part of everyday operations in any organization. Be it is about finalizing a business deal to the best expenses and timelines, giving responsibilities for a project, or simply deciding on the output of the day, you are just negotiating. So, the better the negotiator one is, the better is the productivity and outcomes for an enterprise.
Creativity
At times, viewing a problem separately can throw up a solution that can positively affect the organization. Employers look for a keen eye for innovative, fresh and unorthodox talent to manage business challenges and internal matters. If one is able to connect the dots across seemingly disparate pieces of information and come up with new ideas and opinions, then one is a creative person.
Learning Dexterity
Learning dexterity is generally, finding a way to do things when one does not know what to do. Persons who are learning agile are valued by businesses as they take complex challenges straight away and turn experiences into learnings and practices.
While the above-mentioned employability skills would be critical, the essence of few others such as communication, customer centricity, digital and financial skills would continue to be in demand even in the new normal as employers revisit their human strategy and enable a learning culture for higher results, productivity and bottom lines.
