Although there has been immense upheaval across the world of work this year, tech is one of the sectors that fortunately has remained resilient. As a result of COVID-19, organisations have had to reprioritise their technology objectives and strategies, leading to a surge in demand for certain roles in the tech space.
Effects of the pandemic
Digital transformation was sweeping across the world of work well before the pandemic. But COVID-19 has accelerated this, with huge numbers of professionals switched to remote working practically overnight. The new software and technology required to make this happen upped demand for professionals.
To give you an idea of areas in demand and activity in the market, here are five of the hottest tech jobs which employers will be looking for as we move into the new year.
Hottest tech jobs for 2021
The top priority of CEOs and business leaders right now is cyber security. For all its pros, the rise in remote and hybrid working creates a lot of security issues – from user issues around behaviour, to technical issues with people using their own devices and using company hardware but battling against a huge volume of users.
Employers will be on the lookout for security engineers and security architects in particular in the new year and beyond.
Practically every organisation is migrating to cloud solutions. At the onset of the pandemic when professionals switched to remote and hybrid working, this migration was very quick in order to ensure employees could get online and continue working. However, now organisations are taking the opportunity to ensure these systems are robust.
Could engineers are going to be high in demand – with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure the primary skills employers need. Demand in this area will be acute and supply will be limited.
Every customer I’ve spoken to recently is on a journey of moving from analogue to digital. Whether that’s building their own solutions, buying them in or a blend of the both – change facilitators and change managers are high in demand.
As well as general change roles, developers are a key element of creating new products involved in an organisation’s change journey. Back-end developers who are building the heavier tech and front-end developers (including UX) that ensure any product is easy to use and navigate will be in demand to facilitate change and everything that goes with it.
Most of us have observed or been part of the rise in demand for smart devices in health-tech, ed-tech and med-tech over recent months. A core element of these devices and similar platforms is the data insights it can provide.
As a result of this, there is now even greater focus on those people who are skilled to develop in that space, and also greater focus on data insights in this area. Data analysts and data scientists are two particular roles which are going to be pitted in high demand.
How does this affect your career?
Do any of the above roles resonate with your skillset and career ambitions? If so, now could be the time to make a career move. Employers are actively on the hunt for talent in these areas so are likely to offer competitive salary and benefit packages to draw in the candidates they need.
Regardless of these specific areas, the reality is that tech is a robust and buoyant sector. We can expect to see continued and accelerated demand for good candidates as we move into the new year.
For further resources and insights visit our Inspire Me in the New Era of Work hub or get in contact with one of our expert recruitment consultants today.
James Milligan Global Head of Technology, Hays
James Milligan is the Global Head of Technology at Hays, having joined in 2000. In his role, he is responsible for the strategic development of Hays technology businesses globally.
