From 2020 onwards the world has been changing dramatically. An old acronym VUCA has suddenly gained significant appreciation in the last 3 years. VUCA stands for, Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity.

And due to the VUCA nature of our world the predictability and preparation of skills relevant for one’s career has become increasingly challenging. In the earlier days one could focus and plan for a particular career and prepare themselves for such careers, knowing the required knowledge, skills, and attributes.

Over the years, thanks to the technology/digital disruption in across different industries, the knowledge and skills required for conventional jobs in these industries have dramatically changed. For example, in the field of finance and accounting, a working knowledge of financial basics and accounting was more than adequate to prepare for a successful career. Today, for a successful career in finance and/or accounting one needs to be aware of areas like FinTech, Blockchain, digital and cryptocurrencies, Big Data and AI enabled financial services, to name just a few.

This pattern repeats across disciplines including engineering, medicine, and agriculture.

The career demands in these volatile times keeps constantly changing and one must have the mindset to continuously learn and update on an ongoing basis. Consider the following scenario: with many companies adapting hybrid work systems and tech companies gearing for massive layoffs, the concept of work is radically changing. Today, companies, when hiring employees for their work requirements have the following options: from traditional employees to outsourcing to free agents to alliances to talent platforms to volunteers to robotics and artificial intelligence. In this complex scenario, somebody aspiring for a career would need to be prepared to take up a role in conjunction and consideration of the above 8 options. Each of these options would have different requirements in terms of knowledge, skills, and attributes. 

Career aspirants need to be aware that new kinds of jobs are evolving across industries. For example, here are a few emerging career options; AI Ethics Evaluator, Robot Trainer, Virtual Culture Architect, Data, Talent and AI Integrator, and Cyber ecosystem designer. These jobs are evolving in spite of the perception myth that workplace automation would have a detrimental impact on the future of jobs and employees. What is really evolving is that there will be a new combination of skills and competency requirements, talents, and relationships pertaining to work.

In this changing scenario, career aspirants need to be constantly aware of the dynamic changes taking place across the business environment. According to the latest Glass Door hiring-workplace-Trends Report, the challenges between demand and supply of employees will continue to impact hiring. In spite of high unemployment across the globe, this hiring paradox is due to the non-availability of required skills and talents among candidates. Keeping this in mind it would be advisable to look at the critical career skills required in the immediate and near future and prepare oneself for these new challenging and interesting opportunities.

Based on recent surveys, what emerges are careers that combine technical/digital skills along with human and life skills: from Cloud Computing to Data Scientist, Digital Marketing, and Digital Public Relations, UX and UI Design, Contemporary Product Design and Project Management, FinTech, Cybersecurity and AI, the options are enormous and cut across all industries. The key insight that one should take into consideration is that they need to develop both their technical and human skills to make themselves relevant for these exciting career opportunities.

Every few years the World Economic Forum issues a well-researched note on the Top 10 skills of the future. A careful analysis of this latest list would validate that in addition to technology skills, emphasis is made on problem-solving, self-management and collaboration skills. In the beginning of 2022, there was much hope of the global economy bouncing back in the aftermath of Covid. When the Russian-Ukraine conflict emerged, the priorities shifted, giving rise to more uncertainties and more challenges. Interestingly, during times of such uncertainties there is a general tendency among people across the globe to invest in their skill upgradation and 2022 was no exception. While almost every job requires some element of technology some of the other career trends in 2022 and 2023 will be as follows: increasing unemployment rates, prospects of numerous jobs. Moving to higher automation, emergence and growth of technology enabled independent work and the significant awareness of soft/life skills as a key differentiator. These trends will continue in 2023, as well. Emerging exciting technologies like CHATGPT, Metaverse, Quantum and Cognitive Computing will also provide interesting career options for people who are ready and prepared.

While these scenarios may seem challenging, the way to overcome and not just survive but thrive is to follow the adage “learn, unlearn, and relearn.” 

 -Authored by: Dr Christopher Abraham, CEO & Head - Dubai Campus, S P Jain School of Global Management.