While the Indian IT industry continues to thrive, the active demand for certain IT job roles has shrunk by over 30-35 percent over the last two years and their current active demand is in low two-digit figures, according to data put together for Moneycontrol by specialist staffing company Xpheno.
Among all, Desktop Support Engineer’s role has seen the highest fall in availability, with a 10 percent drop in the active talent pool looking for jobs, followed by MIS Executive (9 percent), Linux System Administrator (7 percent), Test Engineer (6 percent), and Customer Support Engineer (6 percent).
To be sure, this transformation is not a sign of obsolescence but rather an evolution of the roles and the skills required for them. For instance, automation and cloud-based solutions have reduced the need for dedicated on-site support technicians. However, the role is evolving into a combination of IT generalist and cloud support specialist.
“The Linux/UNIX-based systems have now matured as well as or better than the Windows systems. The erstwhile Linux System Administrator’s role has evolved into multifunction roles like Server Administrator, Cloud Engineers, DevOps, Virtualisation Engineers, etc., with the rising popularity and maturity of Linux-based systems and servers,” Kamal Karanth, co-founder of Xpheno, told Moneycontrol.
He said job roles are not vanishing but are transforming with a wider or deeper definition of scope and skill sets needed for the role.
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‘Know what is coming’
As technology rapidly evolves and traditional job roles transform, industry experts say tech talent must adapt and expand their skill sets to remain relevant and marketable. Understanding the adjacencies of their current roles and experiences can open doors to new opportunities and enhance their career prospects.
Skill adjacencies refer to the interconnectedness of skills and knowledge within a particular domain or across related fields. By identifying and developing skills that are complementary or transferable to their existing expertise, tech talent can broaden their career paths and increase their value to potential employers.
For example, an IT support specialist can broaden his/her skill set by learning about network security, threat detection, and ethical hacking. Certifications like CompTIA Security+ and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) can provide the necessary knowledge.
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By doing this, they can transition into a cybersecurity analyst’s role. Their experience in IT support will be invaluable, as they understand the intricacies of network infrastructure and common security threats. This transition not only safeguards their career but also opens doors to a high-demand field.
“Certifications and formal assessments with project references will be essential to get spotted in the crowd and stay high in the relevance curve,” Karanth said.
Besides, the game is not about sticking to the adjacent skillset or the job role only. Candidates should eye to upskill in emerging job roles to secure employment for the long term.
Data analysts with a strong foundation in programming, statistics, and data visualisation can expand their skill set to become data scientists. By learning machine learning techniques and algorithms, they can analyse data to extract insights and develop predictive models, making them valuable assets in data-driven organisations.
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“Roles like business intelligence analysts are evolving into specialised positions, reflecting the growing need for data scientists and data engineers to provide deeper insights and predictive analytics,” said Kapil Joshi, Deputy CEO of Quess IT Staffing.
To excel in emerging roles, he suggested techies prioritise the acquisition of sought-after skills such as data analytics, AI, and cloud computing.
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