In recent years, the most requested professional figures in the digital world have been Data Scientists and Full Stack Developers. This is what emerges from the report “The Digital Talent Gap – Are Companies Doing Enough?”, created by Capgemini in collaboration with LinkedIn. The research analyzes the demand and supply of jobs for experts with specific digital skills and the availability of digital positions within different sectors and countries. Among the most salient aspects, the report highlights the fact that almost 50% of workers (percentage reaching 60% for those employees with digital skills) are investing both money and free time to acquire digital skills.
Here are the top 10 digital roles that, according to the analysis, will become the most significant in the next 2-3 years:
• Information Security/Privacy Consultant
• Chief Digital Officer/Chief Digital Information Officer
• Data Architect
• Digital Project Manager
• Data Engineer
• Chief Customer Officer
• Personal Web Manager
•Chief Internet of Things Officer
• Data Scientists
• Chief Analytics Officer/Chief Data Officer
THE DIGITAL GAP IS GROWING
Of the companies surveyed, one in two acknowledges that the digital skills gap is widening. In fact, more than half (54%) of companies agree that this gap is hindering their digital transformation programs and that they have lost their competitive edge due to a shortage of digital talent.
As the digital skills gap widens, digital training budgets have remained flat or even declined in over half (52%) of companies. 50% of the interviewees also state that the digital gap is one of the most discussed topics but that, at the same time, no actions are taken to bridge it.
CONCERNS ABOUT SKILL REDUNDANCY COULD CREATE FRICTIONS
Many current employees are concerned that their skills are outdated or about to become outdated. Overall, 29% of workers believe they are already outdated or will become outdated within two years, while over a third of them believe this will happen in 4-5 years. Specifically, nearly half (47%) of Gen Y and Z employees believe their digital skills will become obsolete within the next 4-5 years.
From an industry point of view, the report shows that 48% of automotive workers think their skills will become superfluous in the next 4-5 years, followed by those in banking (44%), utilities (42 %), telecommunications and insurance (both 39%).
THE GAP IN DIGITAL SOFT SKILLS IS GREATER THAN THE GAP IN HARD SKILLS
The report also highlights an increase in demand for professionals with expertise in digital hard skills, in areas such as advanced analytics, automation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. However, digital soft skills such as customer centricity and a passion for learning are among the most requested by companies and represent an increasingly important characteristic for a well-rounded digital professional.
The report also shows that:
Even though 51% of employees believe that there is a lack of digital hard skills in their company, at the same time, 59% of respondents also highlight a lack of soft skills
Seven out of ten digitally skilled workers (72%) prefer to work for companies that have an entrepreneurial culture that promotes agility and flexibility, such as that of the startup.
· Digital skills are very unlikely to thrive in an environment characterized by a lack of freedom to experiment and fail
. If a culture based on experimentation does not exist, innovation will also suffer.
