Digitalization Drives Demand for New Skills in the Workplace

The pandemic triggered a shift towards digitalization in almost every industry. With it, new skills are needed in the world of work. However, the right talent in Mexico is still hard to find. Among the skills required are cloud computing, data science, Big Data, artificial intelligence, IoT and 3D and 4D printing, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). According to the organization, it is essential for companies to invest in training their staff in these technologies, which will be increasingly necessary to face 2021.

Likewise, the demand for profiles trained in e-commerce and digital transformation will be increasingly in demand. According to Moís Cherem, Director of the digital skills school BEDU, Mexico currently has a talent shortage of 150,000 workers in these areas. “We believe that the demand will continue to rise. In cybersecurity demand will grow, as well, because now that almost everything is interconnected there is a high degree of vulnerability. There are very few people in Mexico in this area,” he said in an interview with unocero.

Currently, 18.9 percent of young people in the world are unemployed. In addition, only 16.4 percent have higher education, which leaves a wide range of jobs that cannot be filled with qualified talent, WEF reported.

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• Micro-businesses were the biggest job losers in 2020. According to INEGI figures, small establishments, defined as those with between 11 and 30 employees, terminated 417,977 jobs in 4Q20 compared to the same period last year. In contrast, the number of government employees grew by 145,941, revealed the institute.

• Spotify will let employees work from anywhere after the COVID-19 pandemic, said the music streaming service in a statement. The company unveiled the ‘Work from Anywhere Model’, a program that will let its more than 6,550 employees work from any location they want, even in other countries. “A flexible working culture is built on trust, communication, collaboration and connection, as well as acknowledging that we are all individuals, with different needs and rituals. This gives us the right frame of mind to let go of a few chosen truths and instead find what is right for our business and our people,” the Sweden-based company noted.

• In 2020, non-wage-earning individuals, such as fee-earners and self-employed workers, were the taxpayers who contributed the most to the Tax Administration Service (SAT), according to an analysis by El Financiero. Last year, self-employed individuals grew by 5.2 percent to 31,277,226 taxpayers in Mexico.