The future is digital, and thanks to the pandemic, that future is here sooner than many expected, leaving several industries struggling to catch up.
But when hiring costs can range from 50% of an employee’s salary for entry-level positions to 150% for skilled workers and managers, investing in training existing workers could pay off. Accredited online learning from world-class training provider ILX could help pave the way for your employees into the new dawn of digitization.
The Impact of Covid-19 on Industry
Covid-19 accelerated digital transformation, leaving customers and service end-users with few options other than digital engagement and forcing organizations to adapt to survive. The pandemic impacted almost every facet of the world of work, including:
- A rapid shift to hybrid working – requiring improved cybersecurity and increased reliance on cloud services
- Accelerating the adoption of AI and machine learning
- Major shift in retail model in favor of digital
And now that the world is getting back on its feet, organizations face the challenge staff shortage, supply chain disruption, inflationand Uncertainty.
But with challenges come opportunities. And by training your employees to adapt to the new world of industry, your company can look to the future with confidence.
The most demanded skills in 2022
Dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic has forced many organizations to reprioritize the skills they seek in their workforce. The skills most valued by organizations are:
- Management and leadership (76%)
- Big Data Analysis (75%)
- Cloud (74%)
- Project and program management (72%)
- Automation (70%)
Given the unprecedented matrix of challenges facing organizations, the demand for management and leadership should come as no surprise. Managing these crises requires the right vision, establishing effective strategies, making the right decisions, setting the right examples, and communicating the right messages at the right time.
Learning and development are key to post-pandemic success
New ways of working and the adoption of remote hybrid employment have been key drivers of increased demand for learning and development.
- 41% of organizations increased their learning and development budget in 2021, while almost half, 49% plan to do so later this year.
With talent shortages affecting all industries, education is seen as a key differentiator (80%) in attracting top talent. And with the shift to hybrid and remote working models and increasing adoption of AI technology, organizations are prioritizing investing in training their IT and product development functions.
Organizations need to keep up with the pace of AI adoption
- Organizations see the greatest demand for AI (41%) and cloud training (41%) within their IT departments
The capabilities of the AI are already beyond what many could have predicted. However, harnessing the efficiencies and benefits it can provide depends on organizations and their employees keeping up with the pace of progress.
“The reality is that artificial intelligence (AI) is already at work — affecting how we search, how we shop, and even how we meet people. Here at ILX, we believe demystifying AI is key. People have always feared what they don’t understand, and this revolution is no different.
“Timing will be a factor, but in any case, making AI accessible is key to engaging the workforce of the future.” – Russell Kenrick, Managing Director of the ILX Group,
AI to make some low-skilled roles redundant
ILX Group Managing Director Russell Kenrick explains how reskilling professionals can help close the AI skills gap and give low-skilled workers room for upskilling.
“The upskilling (or reskilling) debate is about the roles that are disappearing and the roles that are needed for the future. The real elephant in the room are the roles, which (due to today’s AI) are mostly lower skill roles. Unfair, I know, but we’re seeing AI replacing store workers, waiters, receptionists, and office administrators, and it’s going a long way for some of those workers to fill the skill gaps like data scientists, digital marketing experts, and IT professionals. But it’s possible.
“Things will get even scarier as we see more AI and automation in so-called ‘professional’ roles, such as It’s the retraining of these people that will drive growth into AI roles because the workflow is more complex.”
He gives advice on which AI to choose:
“When implementing AI, we recommend using agile methods to get the best results – it requires fast feedback loops and lots of experimentation.”
Data science skills help your employees better understand their customers
The shift to buying online is not only a challenge for businesses, but also a tremendous opportunity to collect data and use it to analyze and understand your customers like never before. Companies that analyze data to better understand customer behavior outperform their competitors by 85%.
However, a national shortage of technical IT staff makes training essential.
- Engineers and data scientists enjoyed a 9-16% wage increase in just one year due to tight supply.
Digital Marketing
To keep your business competitive in a changing global landscape, you need to recognize where skills need updating.
- Traditional sales skills don’t translate to e-commerce
- L&D teams need to focus on high-value technical skills that support customer acquisition such as SEO, email marketing, PPC, and conversion rate optimization.
ILX Group Managing Director Russell Kenrick explains what it takes to build high-performing sales and marketing teams:
“Sales and marketing are changing, driven by advances in technology and accelerated by the global pandemic. Traditional sales and marketing skills are no longer a guarantee of success. To be successful today, professionals in these roles must combine traditional content and communication skills with data analysis, data-driven decision-making, digital marketing skills like SEO, PPC, CRM, and social, and perhaps most importantly, agile project management. The latter is often overlooked, but more often than not it’s the difference between high-performing sales and marketing teams… and the rest.”
