95% of Workers Want Digital Skills to Adapt to Job Changes

Amazon Web Services Inc released a new research report showing that the need for digital skills training became more acute during the pandemic, with 95% of workers in India reporting they need more digital skills. It also includes the ability and knowledge to apply digital technologies for tasks in the workplace in order to cope with changes in their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report reveals that over the next year, the number of Indian workers requiring digital skills for their jobs is expected to grow by 27.3 million, representing 7% of India's workforce. Even so, only 45% of employers in India have a training plan, which can affect their competitiveness in areas such as productivity, innovation and employee retention. 

The report named “Building Digital Skills for the Changing Workforce” was prepared by strategy and economics consulting firm AlphaBeta and commissioned by AWS. It surveyed 1,012 digitally skilled workers in both technology and non-technology roles, and 303 employers in India with representation from public, private and non-profit sectors of different sizes and industries.

The report also reveals that the ability to use cloud-based tools, such as cloud developer tools, as well as customer relationship management, accounting, and online collaboration software, will be the most demanded skill by employers by 2025, followed by technical skills.

It also highlights the need for more advanced cloud computing skills, including machine learning and cloud architecture design, which have emerged as the fifth and sixth most in-demand skill by employers in India by 2025. These skills are expected to be in high demand in businesses from healthcare to agriculture, fintech to media and entertainment.