It is Now Time to Reimagine Jobs- Shilpa Vaid, HR Head, Prione & Cloudtail
In the post-pandemic days, there may be jobs that get lost forever. On the other hand, there are some jobs that can become more important than ever. In fact, a new category of jobs may emerge altogether in the post-pandemic days. As employers, employees, and economies transform amid the COVID-19 times, it is essential to identify the jobs that will be in demand and help the current and future workforce prepare for them. In a recent interview with Shilpa Vaid, HR Head, Prione & Cloudtail, we discuss the evolving job landscape amid the pandemic and how employees and employers can prepare for it. In the post-pandemic days, there may be jobs that get lost forever. On the other hand, there are some jobs that can become more important than ever. In fact, a new category of jobs may emerge altogether in the post-pandemic days. How do you see the job landscape shaping up? The pandemic has brought in large scale shifts to how work is done, the work force and the workplace. For me, the biggest change in the job landscape is that the post COVID-19 world will see gig and freelance workers becoming more mainstream u2013 this is partly a result of the pressure organizations are facing and will continue to face in managing their fixed costs and can partly be attributed to the accelerated adoption of remote and digital working in the last few months. But equally this necessitates that companies and HR leaders prepare for assessing, rewarding, and managing this flexible workforce and strengthen employee experience in the digital workplace. The pandemic has resulted in companies investing in automation and cognitive technologies more than ever before and this will lead to even greater demand for certain jobs that have been on the rise in the last few years. Some obvious examples include data engineers and scientists given the increased reliance on data; cyber security given the increased remote working; digital marketing, machine learning & artificial intelligence roles given the exponential increase in online & digital services. I also believe that some newer jobs will emerge in the post COVID world or will now come at a premium. Services on call/demand at home; online education & coaching; workplace designers to ensure employee health & safety will see a spike in demand. The other aspect that most of us in the corporate world donu2019t recognize is the vulnerability that this pandemic has created for workers in the informal economy or those in frontline jobs whose roles come with occupational risks. It is imperative that companies take appropriate measures to ensure physical and mental well-being of their u2018at u2013 risku2019 populations. What are the gaps, you think, holding people back from making the transition between obsolete roles and in-demand roles? How can these gaps be bridged? The pandemic has impacted jobs and roles, but it is essentially skills that mattered and will continue to matter and therefore we need to focus on skill gaps vs. obsolete and in-demand roles. The responsibility of getting the workforce equipped with the skills that will matter in the future is shared between the company and all of us as employees. There are functional skills that are more in demand today but there are other softer skills that will never cease to be important even with the advent of newer technologies. Workers of the future will spend more time on activities that machines are less capable of, such as managing people, applying expertise, and communicating with others.
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