By Rahul Kashyap

In today’s tech-driven world, upskilling has become a need to develop crucial skill sets across diverse functional domains. They have become a necessity to sustain in a dynamic workspace. Upskilling has the potential to increase employee retention ratio by providing better growth opportunities. As per a study conducted by PwC, 77% of employees have shown interest in upskilling. They are aware of the fact that upskilling can elevate their work performance, future promotion, and ultimately growth in salaries.

The pandemic has wreaked havoc on economies, disrupted the industry across the world, and adversely impacted everyone’s life. The anticipation of technology is touching new heights which have made upskilling vital to walk at par with developments. “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn” – said Alvin Toffler, a noted American futurist. This saying is completely relevant to the present workforce.

Here are a few points to see a detailed overview of upskilling and its impact on creating a resilient workforce.

Emerging Upskilling Courses

Many tech-related upskilling courses are catching the eyes of the workforce. Courses such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain Technology, Data Science, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, and the Internet of Things are in high demand. This is so because these courses are allowing people to enhance their skills and avail high returns from their learnings and experiences. For example, an upskilling course in cybersecurity can help a person to earn around Rs 8 lakhs per annum whereas the figure is around Rs 12 lakhs for an upskilling course in Artificial Intelligence. With the advancement in new technology such as metaverse and Web 3.0, the upskilling industry is further expected to rise exponentially.

A Rise in Tech Workforce

In India, around 4.5 million people are employed in the IT services and BPO industry. This number is expected to have a double growth in the next few years. But, the tech industry is still suffering from the gender gap. The Tech industry contributes 4% of the total workforce. The percentage is expected to rise with the enhancement in automation enabled technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics. To work with these technologies, it is important to bridge the skill gap. Upskilling is helping the industry by creating tech professionals with the potential to work efficiently.

Upskilling for All

The impact of upskilling can be witnessed in every domain. Many big tech companies Amazon, JP Morgan, Accenture, and PwC are expanding their upskilling initiative for the existing employees. Till 2019, Amazon has trained its 70,000 employees under various upskilling programs. In this same way, the upskilling trend is slowly shifting toward industry leaders also. Many industry leaders in the field of SaaS and IT are enrolling on upskilling courses to gain a better understanding of trending technologies. The appropriate adoption of these technologies will allow industry leaders to ensure complete compliance with their services. Thus, upskilling is a great opportunity for people who are employed in the tech industry to boost their work potential.

Skills are a valuable commodity for any company or organisation, and upskilling is a way of syncing these skills with the continuously changing global ecosystem. With the evolution in business models and strategies, it is important to upgrade oneself with the latest workforce skills. It will also allow the workforce to grab better work opportunities with higher pay scales. Many ed-tech platforms are offering upskilling courses along with certification and real-time industry experience. This is helping people in making new connections and implementing their learnings quickly.

The author is the co-founder of Skillslash.

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