Via TechCrunch
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According to the Labor Department, the U.S. economy is in
its strongest stretch in corporate hiring since 1997. Given the rapidly
escalating competition for talent, it is important for employers, job
seekers, and policy leaders to understand the dynamics behind some of
the fastest growing professional roles in the job market.
For adults with a bachelor’s degree or above, the unemployment rate stood at just 2.7 percent in May 2015.
The national narrative about “skills gaps” often focuses on
middle-skill jobs that rely on shorter-term or vocational training – but
the more interesting pressure point is arguably at the professional
level, which has accounted for much of the wage and hiring growth in the
U.S. economy in recent years. Here, the reach and impact of technology
into a range of professional occupations and industry sectors is
impressive.
Software is eating the world
In 2011, Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen coined the phrase “software is eating the world” in an article
outlining his hypothesis that economic value was increasingly being
captured by software-focused businesses disrupting a wide range of
industry sectors. Nearly four years later, it is fascinating that around
1 in every 20 open job postings in the U.S. job market relates to
software development/engineering.
The shortage of software developers is well-documented and
increasingly discussed. It has spawned an important national dialogue
about economic opportunity and encouraged more young people, women, and
underrepresented groups to pursue computing careers – as employers seek
individuals skilled in programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, and SQL.
Although most of these positions exist at the experienced level, it is no surprise that computer science and engineering are among the top three most-demanded college majors in this spring’s undergraduate employer recruiting season, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Discussion about the robust demand and competition for software
developers in the job market is very often focused around high-growth
technology firms such Uber, Facebook, and the like. But from the
“software is eating the world” perspective, it is notable that
organizations of all types are competing for this same talent – from
financial firms and hospitals to government agencies. The demand for
software skills is remarkably broad.
For example, the top employers with the greatest number of developer
job openings over the last year include JP Morgan Chase, UnitedHealth,
Northrup Gruman, and General Motors, according to job market database
firm Burning Glass Technologies.
Data science is just the tip of the iceberg
Another surge of skills need related to technology is analytics and
the ability to work with, process, and interpret insights from big data.
Far more than just a fad or buzzword, references to analytical and
data-oriented skills appeared in 4 million postings over the last year –
and data analysis is one of the most demanded skills by U.S. employers,
according to Burning Glass data.
The Harvard Business Review famously labeled data scientist roles “the sexiest job of the 21st century”
– but while this is a compelling new profession by any measure, data
scientists sit at the top of the analytics food chain and likely only
account for tens of thousands of positions in a job market of 140
million.
What often goes unrecognized is that similar to and even more so than
software development, the demand for analytical skills cuts across all
levels and functions in an organization, from financial analysts and web
developers to risk managers. Further, a wide range of industries is
hungry for analytics skills – ranging from the nursing field and public
health to criminal justice and even the arts and cultural sector.
As suggested by analytics experts such as Tom Davenport,
organizations that are leveraging analytics in their strategy have not
only world-class data scientists – but they also support “analytical
amateurs” and embed analytics throughout all levels of their
organization and culture. For this reason, the need for analytics skills
is exploding within a variety of employers, and analytics and
data-related themes top many corporate strategy agendas.
Analytics: Digital marketing demands experienced talent
Change is also afoot as digital and mobile channels are disrupting the marketing landscape. According to the CMO Council, spending on mobile marketing is doubling each year,
and two-thirds of the growth in consumer advertising is in digital. In
an economic expansion cycle, awareness-building and customer acquisition
is where many companies are investing. For these reasons, marketing
managers are perhaps surprisingly hard to find.
For example, at high-growth tech companies such as Amazon and
Facebook, the highest volume job opening after software
developer/engineer is marketing manager. These individuals are
navigating new channels, as well as approaches to customer acquisition,
and they are increasingly utilizing analytics. The marketing manager is
an especially critical station in the marketing and sales career ladder
and corporate talent bench – with junior creative types aspiring to it
and senior product and marketing leadership coming from it.
The challenge is that marketing management requires experience: Those
with a record of results in the still nascent field of digital
marketing will be especially in demand.
Social media: not just a marketing and communications skill
Traditionally thought of in a marketing context, social media skills
represent a final “softer” area that is highly in demand and spans a
range of functional silos and levels in the job market — as social media
becomes tightly woven into the fabric of how we live, work, consume and
play.
While many organizations are, of course, hiring for social
media-focused marketing roles, a quick search of job listings at an
aggregator site such as Indeed.com reveals 50,000 job openings referencing social media.
These range from privacy officers in legal departments that need to
account for social media in policy and practice, to technologists who
need to integrate social media APIs with products, and project managers
and chiefs of staff to CEOs who will manage and communicate with
internal and external audiences through social media.
Just as skills in Microsoft Office have become a universal foundation
for most professional roles, it will be important to monitor how the
use of social media platforms, including optimization and analytics,
permeates the job market.
The aforementioned in-demand skills areas represent more of a
structural shift than an issue du jour or passing trend. It is precisely
the rapid, near daily change in software- and technology-related skills
needs that necessitates new approaches to human capital development.
While traditional long-term programs such as college degrees remain
meaningful, new software platforms, languages, apps and tools rise
annually. Who in the mainstream a few years ago had heard of Hadoop or
Ruby?
Each month, new partnerships and business models are being formed
between major employers, educational institutions and startups – all
beginning to tackle novel approaches to skills development in these
areas. Certificate programs, boot camps, new forms of executive
education, and credentialing are all targeting the problem of producing
more individuals with acumen in these areas.
As technology continues to extend its reach and reshape the
workforce, it will be important to monitor these issues and explore new
solutions to talent development.
