It’s no understatement to say that the Covid-19 crisis has caused huge shifts to our working practices and transformed industry landscapes beyond recognition. One thing this has made clear, however, is how integral tech professionals with the right skills are to organisational success.
Certain industries in particular have seen increased demand for the right talent – with VoIP and Telecommunications, Medical Technology and Software as a Service just a few of the tech sectors to have seen an uptick due to the way that they are enabling remote working. Other, more traditional sectors to have seen increased demand for tech professionals include healthcare, as companies look to react swiftly to the coronavirus crisis, and supply chain and logistics, with the need to move goods both safely and economically remaining crucial to withstanding the pandemic.
Regardless of whether your organisation operates within one of these industries, with remote working practices set to continue in some form for the foreseeable future as we enter a new working era, securing tech professionals with the skills required will remain key.
Here are some of the skills employers will need to thrive in the new era of work:
Unsurprisingly, with the mass transition to home working within the last couple of months, cloud and infrastructure skills have, and continue to be, imperative – particularly within cloud based services such as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
The use of cloud systems looks set to remain prevalent as the lockdown eases and we begin to move towards a more ‘hybrid’ way of working, and experienced professionals will be required to ensure that organisations are able to scale up or down according to business requirement, and deploy cloud services where needed. What will also be vital is that connectivity to these services remains consistent and reliable, with the ability to access cloud systems quickly and easily key to employee productivity and operational efficiency.
In tandem with the increased demand for cloud and infrastructure skills, the tech profession has also seen increased emphasis on the importance of cyber security, with a vital need for tight security controls to be put in place to protect remote operating models.
The increased use of personal devices for work purposes, along with new accounts and increased access to remote systems, has put company infrastructure at increased risk of hackers. Action will therefore need to be taken in order to ensure that the VPNs and network devices being used remotely are updated with the latest security configurations. As a result, top cyber security talent – already in high demand – will remain indispensable for employers as agile working practices continue for the forseeable.
As organisations race to adapt to different ways of working and practices continue to evolve, data scientists continue to take increased precedence – particularly for the public sector – as looking to data insights for modelling the impact of the Covid-19 crisis becomes key, alongside mapping out what a phased return to the workplace might look like.
For data analysis to be used effectively it has to be both reliable and available to the right people at the right time, in order to be used as part of a strategic decision-making process and reduce pressure on day-to-day operations. Professionals who are able to quickly and accurately interpret data will be crucial for employers as they continue to adopt an agile approach to working practices on an ongoing basis.
The unprecedented speed with which organisations have had to react to the pandemic and its ensuing challenges has triggered an acceleration of digital transformation projects. Companies that were already moving away from legacy systems have had to do so now as a matter of urgency.
This acceleration will create ongoing demand for change and project management professionals to help facilitate transformative change. Engaging professionals who possess a combination of technical acumen and the soft skills required to lead a team through digital change will be key for employers as organisations move forward into the new era of work.
If you have any further questions or concerns about hiring tech talent in the current climate, please contact your Hays consultant, or visit our Inspire Me in the New Era of Work Hub to access a collection of resources that will help you to manage your team, undertake interviews and successfully onboard new candidates as we move forward.
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.
