The top 5 technical skills in demand for jobs in 2023

Jobs are changing – so much so that it has been predicted that 85% of the jobs college graduates will have in 2030 have yet to be invented.

This means that skills will also have to change. AI and automation will be the main drivers of this as machines become capable of doing more work. This means that instead of just automating manual tasks, smart machines powered by artificial intelligence (AI) will increasingly perform tasks that require thought and decision-making.

So where does that leave humans? Do not worry; we are unlikely to be completely redundant just yet. Instead, we’ll focus on tasks that machines simply can’t do as well as we can (yet) — jobs that involve strategy, creativity, or emotional intelligence, for example.

In 2023 and beyond, I believe those who succeed in industry and business will develop skills that involve augmenting our capabilities with intelligent machines and software while applying the “human touch” where it is. necessary. So here’s my rundown of five skill sets that will help anyone prepare for the future.

Data Communicator / Storyteller

Data Communicators and Storytellers will become increasingly sought after and valuable to businesses as we approach 2023. Indeed, according to research commissioned by Tableau from Forrester, by 2025, 70% of jobs will involve working directly with data. This means that every organization will need people with the skills to interpret, translate and communicate it.

This skill set is about the ability to communicate ideas effectively, that is, getting them into the hands of the right people at the right time. However, they also need to be engaging, and that’s where the storytelling element comes in. Skilled data storytellers are able to see and communicate the narrative around data. Concretely, this can mean explaining where the information comes from, why it is important for the company and how to best implement it.

Data storytellers use written communication as well as visualizations, leveraging tools like PowerBI, Qlik, and Tableau to find the most effective, memorable, and accurate ways to convey information. There’s a reason storytelling has been mankind’s chosen medium for conveying important information dating back to when Stone Age tribesmen huddled around fires at night. We are accustomed to searching for meaning in them, remembering them and passing on what we learn from them. As data becomes central to more companies’ strategies, people who can communicate and create stories from it will become increasingly valuable, which is why this skill is on my list. most in-demand tech skills in 2023.

cyber security

The explosion of home and remote working that began during the Covid-19 pandemic and is expected to continue into 2023 means that cybersecurity is essential for every business. It is no longer something that is confined to IT departments, each employee will have to take responsibility for the security of the data entrusted to them and for building resilience in their field of activity. However, this does not mean that the specialist cybersecurity officer will become a thing of the past – far from it, in fact, as it is expected that up to 10 million professionals will be employed in the field in 2023.

This means that whether you plan to pursue it as a career path or simply add it to your resume to make yourself more marketable, whatever role you are currently working in, cybersecurity skills will be among the most required for the foreseeable future. .

Home and remote working, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the continued migration of more and more aspects of our lives to the digital realm (as well as the metaverse) all have major implications for how cybercriminals can potentially make a living. unpleasant for us. Cybersecurity professionals are harnessing AI to predict and counter hacking and DDOS attacks while adopting the psychological focus needed to defend against lower-tech approaches based on social engineering. It’s a diverse skill set and one that will make anyone an attractive candidate for tomorrow’s workforce.

UX design

User experience (UX) design and the closely related field of user interface (UI) design will become increasingly valuable skills due to the extent to which digital transformation is effectively transforming every business into a technology company and every job into a technology job.

This democratization of technology simply means that everyone, regardless of role, is expected to work with technology to some degree. And that means the technology must be usable by anyone, even those who don’t have the skills traditionally needed to work with technology, such as software and programming skills.

The skill of the UX and UI designer is to make technology intuitive and accessible to everyone, even if they are not used to working with technology. This will be especially relevant as we move into the era of low-code/no-code platforms, where organizations have the power to build applications for their customers or staff without needing to hire software engineers and to execute long and expensive software development projects. .

Increasingly, whether or not a user (customer or employee) continues to engage with a tool, application, or piece of technology will depend on whether they have a positive, enjoyable, and painless experience. hassle while it does. As consumers continue to value experience above other aspects of the products and services they purchase (such as value for money or quality), UX designer skills will become increasingly in demand.

digital marketing

We live in an attention economy – which means our attention is increasingly the most valuable asset we have to give away, and capturing it is the number one priority for brands and businesses. Digital marketing is all about harnessing the cumulative power of a number of technological solutions designed to grab customers’ attention and put your products and services at the forefront of their minds. From paid social media advertising to influencer-led campaigns, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing funnels, and cutting-edge channels like metaverse and augmented reality ( AR), digital marketing involves a diverse set of digital skills ranging from technical to creative. . Good marketers can specialize in one, several, or many – and as long as they can use their area of ​​expertise to push the needle on any metric important to their organization, they won’t find themselves out of a job. in 2023. This year, many more digital marketers will be driven to augment their human creative and strategic capabilities with AI-powered tools that help with audience targeting and segmentation.

And finally – one skill to rule them all…

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have noticed that AI plays a key role in all of the skills I’ve mentioned here – in particular, the ability to work alongside AI in a way that is today frequently described as “augmented work”. .” Data communicators have AI tools that can suggest the most effective forms of visualization and storytelling to get their ideas across. Cybersecurity professionals use AI to analyze network traffic and detect attacks before they do harm. UX designers use AI-assisted analytics of user behavior to determine which features and functionality to prioritize. And digital marketers have plenty of artificial intelligence tools to predict. audience behavior and even create texts and content.

The ability to spot opportunities to increase your people skills or those of your organization through AI, and implement tools and platforms to do so, will likely be the most valuable skill of all in 2023 and beyond. -of the.

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