In-demand skills

The job landscape has changed dramatically over the last few years, particularly with the advent of COVID-19. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2.1 million people left or lost a job, and 1.3 million people changed jobs. That’s the highest annual job mobility rate since 2012.

The types of in-demand skills have also changed. The World Economic Forum (WEF) projects that nearly half of the world’s workers will need to re-skill in one way or another over the next five years. Their 2020 Future of Work report has identified “the potential scale of worker displacement due to augmentation and technological automation, alongside effective strategies for empowering job transitions from declining to emerging jobs”.

And a recent study conducted jointly by RMIT Online and Deloitte on the “future of work” has revealed that digital literacy skills will be in high demand in Australia in the next few years. The study reports that Australia will need over 156,000 more digital technology workers by 2025, representing one in four jobs created during that period.

WEF’s top skills for 2025

However, it is interesting to note that the WEF report also cites the top 15 skills for 2025 — and many aren’t directly connected to technology, cybersecurity or software development. They are based on being better at learning, thinking and adapting to an ever-changing world. Many of them cover management and leadership skills and others can be gained with personal development courses. Some of the in-demand skills they forecast are:

Analytical thinking and innovation

Analytical thinking skills help you take an in-depth look at complex issues, determine how to fix problems, and come up with solutions. Innovation is the ability to generate ideas that create value and improve processes to develop and adapt to change.

Active learning and learning strategies

Active learning involves being motivated to learn new things, engaging, applying and reflecting on knowledge gained, and retaining knowledge that can be built upon.

Complex problem-solving

Beyond just finding solutions to problems, complex problem-solving involves considering future changes to resources, circumstances and capabilities that may affect the success of the solutions. It can also include assessing the solution’s impact on individuals and the surrounding environment.

Critical thinking and analysis

Critical thinking allows us to understand and address a situation based on all the available information and facts. These skills enable you to sort and organise data, facts and other information to define a problem and develop effective solutions.

Creativity, originality and initiative

Creativity, in particular, is another one of the in-demand skills as it allows you to increase efficiency, develop new ideas, and devise solutions to complex problems.

Leadership and social influence

Leadership in the workplace refers to the ability of an individual to “manage and supervise a company and its fellow employees”. It also refers to the “ability to positively influence others to perform their jobs to the best of their ability”.

Technology use, monitoring and control

The use of technology in the Australian workforce covers many platforms and programs such as Information Security, E-Commerce, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Drone Technology (among many others!)

Technology design and programming

These jobs involve developing creative, tech-based solutions, and can cover everything from engineering to graphic design. Here are some of the top careers in design and technology, according to Indeed.

Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility

Resilience is the ability to handle disappointment and face and adapt to challenges and overcome them. It can include identifiable skills like self-confidence, optimism, flexibility, responsibility, patience, problem-solving, self-awareness, communication and teamwork.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to identify and regulate one’s emotions and understand the emotions of others. A high EQ helps build relationships, defuse conflict, reduce team stress and improve job satisfaction.

Jobs in demand by 2025

Globalisation, new ways of working and COVID-19 have all played a part in what is known as the “future of work”. According to LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise in 2021 report, some of the current jobs in demand include:

• Mental health specialists
• Healthcare/medical support workers
• Customer service workers
• E-commerce professionals
• Digital content writers
• Education roles
• Finance professionals
• Digital marketing specialists
• Recruitment professionals
• ICT managers
• Cyber security specialists

Inspiration alert! Read more about these high-demand jobs and find courses to match here!

Jobs in demand according to WEF

Looking ahead, here are the jobs that will be in demand by 2025 according to the WEF (which offers great inspiration for fine-tuning the in-demand skills for the future):

• Data analytics and scientists
• AI and machine learning specialists
• Big data specialists
• Digital marketing and strategy specialists
• Process automation specialists
• Business development professionals
• Digital transformation specialists
• Information security analysts
• Software applications developers
• Internet of Things specialists
• Project managers
• Business services and administration managers
• Database and network professionals
• Robotics engineers
• Strategic advisors
• Management and organisation analysts
• FinTech engineers
• Mechanics and machinery repairers
• Organisational development specialists
• Risk management specialists

Jobs of tomorrow

And looking ahead even further, in their report, the WEF also lists a range of “jobs of tomorrow”, which are jobs over the coming decade that will include newly-created roles in new occupations or existing occupations that will undergo significant transformation in terms of their in-demand skills and requirements. They include jobs in the following:

• Cloud computing — cloud engineers, cloud consultants and DevOps engineers.
• Content production — content specialists, creative copywriters and social media coordinators.
• Data and AI — AI specialists, data scientists, data engineers, data analysts and analysts consultants.
• Engineering — full-stack engineers, Javascript developers and back-end developers.
• Marketing — digital specialists and E-Commerce
• People and culture — HR professionals and IT recruiters.
• Product development — product owners, quality assurance engineers and digital product managers.
• Sales — business development specialists, sales development representatives and customer specialists.