The digital landscape is evolving at such a rapid pace that hiring managers and recruiters need to fill positions that hardly existed in the not-too-distant past.
The acceleration of change in areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation, cloud adoption, machine learning and analytics is creating an environment where IT professionals need to be constantly learning—out of necessity for employment if not passion.
And for 21st century workers seeking technology-based careers, change means keeping an eye on predictions, trends and being aware of what skills they need to know to be qualified for the types of jobs they’ll want.
Below is a list of 2019 technology trends experts are getting excited about and emerging areas where organizations are requiring skilled workers.
Artificial Intelligence
As robots become smarter, so too, must IT professionals. To remain competitive ( and relevant) organizations are trying to understand and harness the power of cutting edge AI– or risk obsolescence like former tech giants Nokia and Blackberry. And a recent report from Gartner finds the field is estimated to create 2.3 million jobs by 2020. Job seekers can expect to see more positions being created in areas like Natural Language Processing (Chatbots), voice technology and predictive analytics to name a few.
Machine Learning
While AI is the concept of machines carrying out “smart” tasks, Machine learning is an application of AI that provides the data needed to execute the task. And it’s expected that there will be a 60% increase in demand for AI and machine learning specialists in 2019.
Data science
Although the demand for data scientists has been around for a few years, the rise of big data and Machine learning brings an increased need for organizations to be able to obtain insights and meaning from the huge piles of data generated every second. The skill is especially useful across industries like finance, banking and healthcare where organizations can make better, data-driven decisions.
Cybersecurity
As more and more customer information is being collected by organizations, the demand for cybersecurity experts to protect this data from hackers and other threats is on the rise. However, a recent study finds there’s currently a large gap in this market, and 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs will remain unfulfilled by 2021.
(Web, mobile, software) Development
Developers are needed to design, install, test and maintain the appropriate systems and frameworks organizations require for their web, mobile and software functions. And with over 5 billion smartphone users currently in the world, mobile application development is in especially high demand. Organizations are in need of iOS developers proficient in Objective-C/ Swift and use Xcode development environment and Cocoa Touch Framework; while Android developers must be skilled in Java.
DevOps
Devops engineers shorten an organization’s development life cycle, enabling a business to deliver client or customer facing applications or services faster. The rise of AI-driven software has made DevOps key to efficiently and rapidly producing in-demand solutions with minimal delays or issues. A recent news report finds DevOps positions have increased over 106% in the last few years.
Blockchain
Blockchain is the technology behind crypto-currency. It’s a digital ledger that saves any transaction between two parties in cryptographically secured blocks of time stamped data. And early adopting organizations are looking for developers who understand the technology, smart contracts and who can build necessary applications. The market for Blockchain developers is still young, yet Gartner predicts the field will create $3.1 trillion is business value by 2030.
Big data Hadoop
Hadoop originally emerged as a pioneering technology that helped organizations cope with big data efficiently, and it’s still a relevant platform for data storage today with predictions that the Hadoop market will grow to $40 billion by 2021.
Cloud Engineering
Cloud computing service providers like Microsoft, Amazon and Google have made it possible to remotely store, manage and process data. And with the increase of cloud computing brings the demand for skilled engineers who can develop solutions that make use of both in-house technology and outside systems to design, plan, manage, maintain and support the service.
The savvy IT professional knows the functions and requirements of his or her job won’t remain the same forever. And as technology advances, so must their skills.
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