All-things-digital: The key to future-proofing your employability
Anyone in any doubt as to what skill-sets will be in big demand in Australia need only look to the ‘hiring and firing’ plans of Telstra and National Australia Bank (NAB) over the next few years. If we’ve read the tea leaves right, the focus on is hiring people with the skills necessary to complement a company’s digital transformation.
That’s great, there will be jobs galore for many in the digital space. But the downside is that the job security of those employees who aren’t (in the digital space), looks less certain.
As a case in point, NAB plans to slash 6,000 jobs over three years, and then hire 2000 staff with expertise in data science, technology architecture and AI. By committing $4.5 billion to technology spending over the next three years, NAB CEO Andrew Thornburn hopes to make Australia’s largest business bank as agile as fintechs.
The Telstra story is very similar to that of NAB, with Australia’s largest telco planning to slash a whopping 8000 employees and contractors over the next three years. The good news is that Telstra will create 1500 new roles, many of them in areas such as software engineering and cyber security.
Given that many Australian companies are following NAB and Telstra down the road towards total digital transformation, the message to the Australian workforce is clear. Those with skills in the digital space, be it through IT, software engineering, cyber security, robotics, automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics are more likely to future-proof their employability for many years to come.
With most companies also moving towards cloud-based computing, accounting and finance professionals are also being forced to boot-strap their IT skills or risk being left behind. Thankfully, due to an unbundling and redesigning of degree programs, it’s now possible for working professionals to pick-off short and tightly focussed on-line courses, now on offer by a growing number of higher education providers Australia-wide.
Skill-sets in strong demand
- Commercial Analysts
- Data Analysts
- Digital Marketing Analysts
- Cyber Security specialists
- PHP, Drupal, Native iOS and Android and Microsoft SQL BI developers
- Business Development Managers to drive growth
- HR Business Partners
- Executive Assistants with strong experience
- Change Analysts
- Policy Officers and Senior Policy Officers
- Procurement professionals Property and Construction Lawyers
- Residential Property Manager.
- Project Managers, Site Managers and Contract Administrators for construction
(Source: Hays Job Report)
