86Mn people in APJ needs digital skills training over the next year
An estimated 86 million people across the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) countries will need to undertake digital skills training over the next year, according to a study by economic consulting firm AlphaBeta commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
This comes after the demand for digitally-skilled employees increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the study also revealed that while 97% of organizations understand the need to train their workers on digital skills, only 29% are implementing to do so.
AlphaBeta APAC Director Genevieve Lim said that “while it is not a silver bullet, implementing digital skills training can boost employee engagement and retention.”
In fact, AlphaBeta and AWS reported that by 2025, three of the top five skills in demand will be cloud-related. This puts more pressure on employers and employees alike to gain some knowledge on how to use cloud-based tools over the next few years.
Apart from cloud-related skills, cybersecurity is the second most in-demand skills area, with specific requirements for skills in developing and deploying protocols and tools for digital ethics and security.
The increasing growth of data also requires employees to have a stronger understanding of data loss and data privacy regulations.
Lim added that to boost organizational resilience, benefits should be given to retrained workers — including severance and hiring costs.
