Top 5 Tech Skills in Great Demand and Low Supply

Information technology is present almost in every sphere of modern life, be it science, finance, education, or healthcare. Such ever-rising tidal wave of IT solutions has brought a growing demand for skilled software engineers and increased the number of remote tech jobs. In this article, we are going to take a look at technical skills that will be especially valuable in the nearest future.

Predicted growth of tech employment may lead to local tech talent shortage because the supply will not match the demand. That's why companies have already started outsourcing remote developer talents from other countries, especially when building a startup team. Remote development teams are popular because of the higher availability and lower cost. Moreover, there are different ways to approach hiring a remote developer. For example, it has become very popular to compare outstaffing vs outsourcing to decide which one is actually the best fit in a particular situation. So such forms of collaboration may become a solution for 65% of nearly 4,000 surveyed IT leaders that report talent shortage, according to a CIO survey by KPMG.

Will We Switch to Remote Tech Jobs in the Future?

Buffer has recently conducted a survey among remote workers and compiled the results into the State of Remote Work 2018 Report. 26% of the survey respondents work in the software industry, whereas 20% – in IT and Services. It means that 46% of home office workers belong to the technology and software-related industry. But remote work does not suit everyone, even in the IT domain. For example, IBM prohibited telecommuting in 2017, calling all of its remote employees back to the office. So it's up to each company to decide if remote work and distributed teams are the right choices for them.

Now let's proceed with the skills that are of great demand when hiring tech talent now and are expected to remain so in the future.

1. Machine Learning and Data Science Skills

Data science is one of the first thoughts coming to mind when we think of today's most wanted tech skills. With the rapid growth of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning projects, knowledge of data science will gradually become a must for any software developer. If you search for “machine learning engineer” jobs on LinkedIn, you will get more than 5,000 results. In 2017, such search returned only 1,829 results, as per Forbes. So the demand has grown more than twice as much as only a year ago – impressive, isn't it? Besides, an average software developer salary in the machine learning and data science domain is $137K+, so it's a good idea to be proactive and start studying this skill today.

2. Mobile App Development Jobs

It's hard to imagine any modern software product without a mobile version. With the ever-growing number of smartphone users, the position of a mobile application developer is now gaining more and more popularity among employers. The mobile app development skill is also important because of its future that goes far beyond mobile devices, e.g. the Internet of Things, augmented reality, and more. An average salary of a mobile app developer is $103K. This and the following salaries in the article are provided by Indeed.com.

3. Digital Marketing Skills

The role of a digital marketing expert isn't new to the tech jobs market. However, it's still important for the promotion of businesses and improvement of their online presence. A professional digital marketer should have a wide range of skills. Specifically, they should know how to do search engine optimization, run advertising campaigns, and improve the conversion rate. On an average, a digital marketing manager can earn up to $73K per year in the US.

4. Cybersecurity Jobs

With an increase of hacker attacks and leaks of confidential data, businesses need to make sure that their data is reliably protected. Just a few years ago companies treated cybersecurity reactively, i.e. started taking measures only when their data was already compromised. However, now organizations tend to be more proactive and protect their data and networks before a disaster strikes. Typical tasks of a cybersecurity engineer include vulnerability scans, penetration testing, hack recovery, architecture design and more, with an average salary of $105K+ per year.

5. UI/UX Designer Jobs

In 2014, Google first introduced its revolutionary Material Design concept, thus changing the world of UI/UX design. However, the design is still evolving and gradually moving into the field of virtual and augmented reality, where usability is even more important than the user interface. As a result, the next generation of UI/UX designers should know how to improve user experience and adapt it to future reality. An average salary of a UX designer is $92K per year.

Bottom Line

The ever-growing information technology market suffers the shortage of local tech talents, that's why remote tech jobs are now on the rise. It looks like many companies will switch to remote collaboration with their employees in the future. Our Top 5 of the future jobs and most wanted skills include machine learning, mobile app development, digital marketing, cybersecurity, and UI/UX design. Average yearly salaries for these positions range from $73K to $137K.