Tech jobs took a heavy hit in 2022. According to Layoffs.fyi, 424 tech corporations laid off 120,253 workers in the first two months of 2023. But it may not be as dangerous because it sounds. “This kind of realignment happens regularly, and often companies take the opportunity to do this under cover of an economic downturn,” explains Rachel Bellow, a cofounder of Bonfire, a expertise improvement accelerator for the rising era of girls in the office.
“If we examine hiring and firing numbers over the past 24 months, we see that companies like Meta, Salesforce, Microsoft and others have hired far more employees than they have fired, sometimes by a factor of 10.” But in accordance to LinkedIn’s February Workforce Report, the industries which have seen the largest declines since final spring are know-how, info, and media (down 41 p.c). To keep aggressive in these fields, job seekers should hold their tech abilities sturdy.
Whether you are wanting to keep related in your present place, survive an organization reorg, or safe a brand new position, persevering with to develop intellectually and emotionally will serve your profession effectively. We requested profession specialists and tech veterans to weigh in on the abilities you want to succeed in tech in 2023; because it seems, some aren’t very techy in any respect.
“Since the world—and the way we work—has forever changed, how we define terms like management, communication, and leadership must keep up with the times, because so many of our before-Covid ways have become obsolete,” says office happiness professional Jenn Lim, CEO of Delivering Happiness and best-selling writer of Beyond Happiness. “It’s time to remind ourselves we can be wise about how we choose to grow, develop, and reskill, and if we get better at something automation will never replace—being human—then the likelihood of us staying relevant and valued will always be there.”
LinkedIn’s 2023 Most In-Demand Skills Report is a stable place to begin when assessing your expertise and the place you may want to bolster your abilities, nevertheless it continues past there. “Companies aren’t just looking for software developers; they’re looking for developers who can weave in their knowledge of finance, sales, operations, and cloud computing too,” Lim says, “Companies are looking for people with an array of skills.”
Twenty years in the past, folks have been advised to be specialists, however that is dangerous as of late when a talent could change into redundant or automated. “To succeed in tech in 2023, talent needs to have T-shaped skill sets,” says Danielle Boris, CEO and founding father of Sandbox, an HR know-how firm devoted to leveraging and motivating expertise. “People should have a breadth of knowledge across their disciplines and depth of knowledge in one area, making them more valuable to organizations, especially ones continuously adapting their workforces,” Boris explains.
The present job market consistently evolves, and plenty of employers have shifted to a skills-first mindset when hiring. “Weighing a candidate’s skills just as much as a degree or previous experience levels the playing field for millions of folks, explains Andrew McCaskill, LinkedIn career expert and creator of The Black Guy in Marketing newsletter. McCaskill suggests considering your skill set as your “career toolkit,” highlighting the skills you already have and making a list to build the ones you don’t. “Leaning into a skills-first strategy can give you the confidence to navigate the job market, particularly through turbulent times,” he says.
Like LinkedIn, Upwork launched its listing of most in-demand skills for 2023 and data showing that 60 million Americans (39 percent of the US workforce) performed at least some freelance work in the past 12 months. Success for freelancers also means having a complete toolkit. “I developed most of my technical skills through self-teaching, via sites like the Microsoft 365 channel on YouTube and through trial and error,” says Ryan Clark, Upwork freelancer and founding father of Mr. SharePoint. “The more high-quality skills I possess, the more marketable I become, so I consistently stay motivated to learn and be on the cutting edge of technology.”
