Demand for five digital skills like Gen-AI and data analytics to pick steam exponentially

• Among functional skill suites with the highest intent-to-hire in Q1FY2024, development roles (28%) held the highest share.
  
• The demand for SAP(16%) expertise has consistently remained high.
  
• When it comes to demand for technical skills across various sectors, the IT sector (15%) has emerged as the frontrunner with the highest share.
  

Digital skills like generative AI and data analytics are in high demand and this will only rise signalling exciting prospects for India’s skilled workforce, according to ‘The Skills Report’ by Quess Corp, a business solutions provider. The report indicates that there has been a noticeable increase in the requirement for professionals possessing technical skills such as development, systems, applications, and products (SAP), automotive design, testing, and infrastructure support in the first quarter of FY24.

In-demand functional suites

It is seen that 78% of aggregate demand emerges from only five tech skill suites. Among functional skill suites with the highest intent-to-hire in Q1FY2024 development roles (28%) held the highest share. There was a noted demand for developers skilled in over 65 technical proficiencies and platforms. Interestingly, full stack skills exhibited consistent and upwardly trending demand within the consulting, automotive, banking, and telecom sectors.

The need for SAP knowledge, accounting for 16% of expertise, has consistently stayed strong, covering both developmental and implementation facets. According to Quess, there was a notable rise in demand for these skills, especially within the consulting and global capabilities centre (GCC) client domains.

Automotive design, constituting 14% of the sought-after expertise, stands as another significant skill in high demand. The global and Indian automotive sectors are currently witnessing a notable upswing in the necessity for skilled professionals. This surge can be attributed to the escalating integration of digital technologies into the industry and the growing need for individuals with adeptness in technological domains.

Furthermore, there is a distinct rise in the requirement for testing skills (12%), applicable to both manual and automated domains. Particularly striking is the substantial demand for proficiencies in tools such as Selenium, TOSCA, Workday, and ServiceNow.

Across various industries, the need for skills related to IT infrastructure support (8%) remains consistent, encompassing both Level 1 and Level 2 support functions. This requirement spans across a wide spectrum of more than 30 specific areas. In tandem with these functional skill sets, there is a call for competencies in domains such as data science, DevOps, cloud computing, enterprise resource planning (ERP), cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), user interface and user experience (UI/UX) design, and other related fields.

The need for diverse recruitment frameworks

According to the report, to address the disparity between talent demand and supply, the industry must explore methods to enhance the availability of a skilled workforce using diverse hiring strategies. Utilising Center of Excellence programs, which maintain a pool of pre-assessed and skilled candidates, can expedite recruitment processes for conventional technology skills.

For areas with insufficiently available technological expertise, companies can implement hire-train-deploy initiatives to empower candidates to enhance their skills and stay up-to-date with modern technologies.

Industry wise tech skills demand

When analysing the distribution of demand for technical skills across various sectors, the Information Technology (IT) sector (15%) has emerged as the frontrunner with the highest share, closely followed by the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector (15%), as well as the digital engineering sector (13%).

The telecom and healthcare industries have also experienced positive shifts in sentiment. As the global focus shifts towards renewable energy sources, the oil and gas sector is under pressure to revamp its business strategies and decision-making approaches in order to stay competitive.

In response to this challenge, companies are embracing digital solutions to uncover new avenues for revenue generation, enhance production efficiency, and reduce operational costs. Cutting-edge technologies like data analytics, artificial intelligence, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) are empowering these organisations to optimise intricate processes and adapt more adeptly to market volatility, unexpected disruptions, and other challenges.

Says Vijay Sivaram, CEO, Quess IT Staffing, “Amid macroeconomic headwinds affecting the US and Europe, the IT services sector faces a downward hiring trend of 25-30%. However, this situation has opened up new opportunities, with GCCs ramping up talent acquisition and projecting an estimated employee strength of 1.4 million, hiring is likely to increase by 10%.”

Tech hiring concentrated in IT hubs

Hiring efforts across India were primarily concentrated in the IT hubs located in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Haryana. The prevalence of remote work policies and the enhancement of data services infrastructure have facilitated an increase in hiring activity in Tier and Tier3 cities.

This trend is particularly noticeable within e-commerce and financial services companies. For example, Quess has successfully placed employees in cities such as Jaipur, Coimbatore, Indore, Kochi, Gulmarg, Siliguri, and several others.