Top Two In-Demand Skills in 2021

Project managers, it’s your time to shine!

Per a recent report (thanks Business Talent Group), project management is the most in-demand skill for 2021. Following behind in the second slot is market landscape and research.

When seeking these top skills in candidates, companies are looking to ‘drive critical workstreams and transformations to explore new business and product pipelines’.

Here’s the list of the 10 most in-demand skills based on the number of requests for each skill over the past 12 months:

1. Project management
2. Market landscape and research
3. Organizational design and workforce planning
4. Growth strategy
5. Process optimization and transformation
6. Corporate and business unit strategy
7. Market access and value
8. Strategic planning
9. Advanced analytics
10. Program management office

It’s All About the Long-Game

The top two concerns for U.S. businesses in Q3 2021 are hiring and retention. (thanks to a survey from West Monroe Partners) 77% of respondents also stated that they planned on hiring more workers in Q3 and more than half of executives (51%) stated their biggest obstacle to cross was finding enough candidates with the right skills.

Last week we discussed different ways in which employers were not only getting candidates in the door, but also increasing employee retention once hired. Lower paying roles are getting in on the competitive action by offering a whopping $15 per hour. That’s more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Multiple states are working toward hitting the $15 mark within the next few years, but this pay hike has started immediately to help combat this tricky hiring landscape.

Pandemic Pressures

A whopping 88% of workers feel that the pandemic caused their careers to stall and another 79% feel ‘pressure to push their careers further as the pandemic ends’. What’s tricky is that 34% believe the best way forward in their career is finding a job with a new employer as 80% don’t think their current employer offers opportunities. 21% of workers go further, feeling that switching to an entirely new industry would get them even further.

IT on the Move

IT employment (U.S.) reached a new high in June – the number of tech employees increased by .19% (10,000 jobs) to 5.36 million – year over year that’s an increase of 4.34%, or 223,200 jobs. On the flipside, though, the rate of growth continues to slow down. (TechServe Alliance)

‘Til next week,

Erin and Team BountyJobs