Much like Darwin’s theory of evolution, we’re now in the survival of the fittest phase, in a manner of speaking. India is facing the worst recession and economic crisis of all time; companies are downsizing their workforce, reducing costs, businesses are closing, and countries and people are finding it difficult to sustain themselves. And like organisms with genes better suited to survive, people with industry-relevant skills best suited to tackle the business challenges of today will most definitely thrive.
While the pandemic has caused an economic crisis that has hit several sectors, some areas, such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, defence, IT, media, and telecommunications are least likely to face a recession. Let’s take a look at a few IT sector job roles that are practically recession-proof during and post Covid-19.
Cybersecurity expertise
With more and more companies adapting to working remotely in order to thrive, security has become a significant cause of concern. There have already been multiple examples of cybersecurity incidents with high-profile targets such as Cognizant, which that faced a ransomware attack that cost it nearly $50-70 million in losses, and Zoom, that often faced privacy issues and was found vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Organisations are therefore increasing their demand for professionals who are experts in defensive or offensive cybersecurity to make their systems hack-proof. According to the Cybersecurity Ventures magazine, there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the next couple of years worldwide.
Risk analyst
Even, or perhaps especially, during a recession, companies need professionals who can identify, anticipate and predict potential risks and provide solutions across all the different strategic and operational aspects of a business that are critical to growth and survival. Companies are always looking for professionals who are experts in analysing data and risks.
IoT professionals
Technology is never affected by a recession, no matter how it might have changed the dynamics of the economy. During an uncertain time like this, technology is what people turn to for solutions. One of the focus areas in the tech space is IoT. There has been a lot of renewed interest in IoT solutions as the pandemic has identified opportunities for more machine-to-machine interactions and data capture and, therefore roles in IoT architecture and IoT analysis will witness a surge.
As per the estimates by head-hunters such as TeamLease, Randstad, Magna Infotech, and ABC Consultants, the demand in this IoT area is going to be up to two lakh professionals in 2020.
Cloud security expert
Like cybersecurity, cloud security has also become a major concern for companies as more and more businesses are migrating to cloud servers to thrive in this scenario. To secure the enormous amounts of data stored in the cloud from hackers, companies are looking for cloud security experts. There are about 101,913 cloud computing positions open worldwide, as per Gartner TalentNeuron.
AI specialist
Even amidst the lockdown and ongoing recession, websites, applications, and communications are all required to operate 24x7 and, thus, an AI specialist is a critical resource to have. The demand for AI specialists has not reduced despite the disruption. As per TeamLease Services, the estimated demand in 2020 would be 4.4 lakh new-age tech professionals including AI specialists, while the supply is projected to be only 2.4 lakh people worldwide.
Safety net
As the statistics projected above clearly reflect, cybersecurity professionals, risk analysts, IoT architects and analysts, cloud security professionals, and AI specialists are practically recession-proof roles that one can pursue for a fulfilling and lucrative career.
Every sector will face the blow of the recession, but these jobs are likely to be the safety net for your career. Post-Covid, the world will reveal itself in new and unexpected ways, but in the meantime, we must stay focused on up-skilling ourselves, adding value to our resumes, and making ourselves recession-proof.
(The author is the co-founder and COO of Jigsaw Academy, a Manipal Global investee company.)