source: freephotocc, via pixabay

Top 10 Technology Skills For 2020

Skills that are reshaping and redefining the workplace

According to research from McKinsey, nearly one-third of U.S. workers will need to find new jobs by 2030 in response to rapid advancements in technology. These advancements mean that workers need to constantly be learning new skills.

Look, when it comes down to it, I am passionate about a handful of things: good quality beer (just kidding…but seriously you can mail me your local IPAs), leadership and management, economics and consumer behavior, entrepreneurship and start-ups, and lastly technology and gadgets. The technology one stands out, as I work full-time managing product marketing for the global process intelligence division of ABBYY Software. My passion in technology means that YES! I have one of those smart doohickies on my wrist and a household enabled with voice-controlled thermostats and other fancy smart devices. The way technology trends change so quickly and new ‘cool stuff’ evolves so quickly keeps me up reading articles and watching snippets from CES 2020 live eager to learn “What is next?”. Talking all things technology and following my previous article about The Top 10 Technology Trends for 2020, I wanted to discuss the top 10 trending technology skills for 2020 and beyond.

You know the stakes are changing and so do I. I don’t think any of these top skills are going to come as a surprise to you, but they’re worth mentioning in your next management or leadership meeting. The demand for technology, and more so for workers with advanced technology skills are skyrocketing. With large-scale disruption happening across the enterprise, organizations need to respond in brand new, innovative ways. This means rethinking how we approach workforce skills and talent management. Many companies are putting more resources into recruiting, hiring and nurturing the right talent to remain competitive. Make no mistake about it, this means that employees willing to put time into developing advanced tech skills may have an advantage in landing some of the most in-demand roles in the enterprise in the next 12 months.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

According to a 2019 report from iCIMS, a recruitment software company, it took organizations an average of 55 days to fill a tech role in 2016. In 2019, that number jumped to 66 days. According to the report, these unfilled roles can cost about $680 in lost revenue per day per vacancy. The supply is slim and demand for these tech jobs is high! Are you qualified with the skills to get these positions?

Top 10 Technology Skills that grew in popularity 2016–2019

When looking at the hottest skills trending on Udemy, the data shows over the last 3 years there’s been a shift towards AI and data science skill learning. It makes sense as many of the top technology trends for 2020 consists of things like hyper-automation, autonomous things, and AI-security. (If you haven’t read about these technologies, I suggest you, at the minimum, acknowledge the full list from the article linked above.)

Here are the top 10 tech skills that have grown in popularity over the last 3 years from 2016 to 2019 according to Udemy.

TensorFlow Chatbot Microsoft Azure — architecture OpenCV (computer vision/AI) Neural networks LPIC- Linux Ethereum (blockchain) Splunk (data) QGIS (open-source GIS software) Kotlin

*Ranking is based on highest consumption on Udemy.com in 2019. Source: Udemy Data 2020.

TensorFlow, OpenCV, and neural networks are the foundation skills that data scientists are utilizing today and are essential for understanding and developing AI apps and platforms.

Open source machine learning and neural networks handle the heavy weight behind artificial intelligence (AI) innovations that are growing in popularity. These digital technologies have taken the world by storm and can be seen across industries.

Top 10 Most Popular Technology Skills for 2020

When Udemy looked at the most popular skills on the learning platform site in just 2020, there was similar trends.

With skills gaps plaguing organizations across the globe, these 10 skills are must-haves. Business leaders are struggling to fill these job roles.

If you’re looking to make an IT skills investment or start a new career path this year, these are the areas to consider. After analyzing data from more than 40 million users, Udemy found that the most popular tech skill people are learning is the programming language Python.

Overall, the report notes there’s a huge interest in learning about artificial intelligence (AI) and data science, but also a growing demand for web development frameworks (React, Angular), cloud computing and other IT certifications (AWS, CompTIA), and Docker.

Python — A programming language used in software development, infrastructure management and data analysis. Python’s design philosophy emphasizes code readability with its notable use of significant white space. React (web) — A JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It is maintained by Facebook and a community of individual developers and companies. React can be used as a base in the development of single-page or mobile applications. Angular — A JavaScript-based open-source front-end web framework. It is maintained by the Angular Team at Google and by a community of individuals and corporations. Angular is a complete rewrite from the same team that built AngularJS. Machine learning — The scientific study of algorithms and statistical models. It is seen as a subset of artificial intelligence Docker — An open-source platform used to create software packages called containers. Containers are isolated from one another and bundle their own software, libraries and configuration files. Django — A Python-based free and open-source web framework. Django’s primary goal is to ease the creation of complex, database-driven websites. CompTIA — A professional tech organization that has four IT certification series ranging from entry-level to expert. It is considered as one of the IT industry’s top trade associations. Amazon AWS —AWS provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments, on a metered pay-as-you-go basis. An AWS certification validates cloud expertise. Deep learning — A class of machine learning based on artificial neural networks. Learning can be supervised, semi-supervised or unsupervised. React Native (mobile) — An open-source mobile application framework created by Facebook to develop apps for Android, iOS, Web and Universal Windows Platform.

*Ranking is based on highest consumption on Udemy.com in 2019. Source: Udemy Data 2020.

Top 10 Emerging Technology Skills in 2020

While there are lots of skills that are critical to technology successes in 2020 there are several tech skills that emerging for this year and beyond.

Gatsby.js (web framework) AWS Big Data React Hooks Microsoft Azure Architecture Next.js (web framework) Apache Airflow (data processing) SwiftUI (Apple apps) Pegasystems (digital process automation) ESP32 (internet of things) Quantum computing

*Data is based on skills with zero consumption in 2018 but surged in 2019 on Udemy. Source: Udemy Data 2020.

The top 10 emerging tech skills in 2020 include web development, quantum computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Udemy analyzed the emerging skills that over 40 million people are learning on the platform today, and found that Gatsby.js, a new web development framework tool, is gaining rapid adoption. Additional web development tools that are growing in popularity include React Hooks, Next.js, and SwiftUI, a user interface tool for Apple apps. Entirely new skills appeared on the emerging technology skills list including quantum computing and ESP32, used in the development of the internet of things.

The Digital Shift is Upon Us — the Need for Digital Skills is Critical

These lists demonstrate a shift in corporate interests and are a reflection of our increasingly digital world. Are you prepared for the digital enterprise?

These top 10 technology skills for 2020 and other fascinating insights are from Udemy for Business’ 2020 Workplace Learning Trends Report: The Skills of the Future (48 pp., PDF, opt-in). This report highlights the future skills your organization will need in 2020 and how you can prepare your workforce for this new decade.

If you liked this article you might also enjoy these other reads!: