The lure of salary hike is driving Indians to learn AI, data science and cloud computing

• A third of the working professionals in India are taking upskilling courses for the sake of better increments at work.
  
• Others prefer to reskill so as to be hands-on with industry projects.
  
• A survey titled ‘Digital Transformation and Future of Tech Jobs in India’ shows that AI, data science, and cloud computing remain the top chosen skills.

The lure of a salary hike is making Indian employees learn new skills. The impact of digitization in the Indian job market is so wide that companies across verticals are keen on hiring and retaining employees with digital skills — including machine learning and data science.

According to a survey of over 1,750 professionals, by an online training platform Simplilearn, a third of the working professionals in India take up upskilling courses for the sake of better increments. Others prefer to reskill so as to be hands-on with industry projects along with rewards and recognition.

According to LinkedIn, India ranks among the top three countries to lead the world in AI skills with robotic process automation, compliance, and integration as the fastest growing skills.

A recent study by Deloitte anticipating the increments this year said that IT product and e-commerce employees have little to worry about as they are expected to offer double digit salary hikes.

“Professionals do understand that they need to upskill to stay relevant in their careers and are focusing on getting hands-on learning from the certifications they take up. There has even been a rise in self-financed training by professionals, as compared to 2018,” said Krishna Kumar, founder and CEO at Simplilearn.

Hottest skills employees want to upskill in

The survey titled ‘Digital Transformation and Future of Tech Jobs in India’ shows that AI, data science, and cloud computing remain the top reskilling choices. “For organizations today, it is of utmost importance to invest in digitally skilling their employees to prevent both the company and its workforce from becoming redundant,” the survey said.


As per the survey, nearly half of the respondents said that the transition to digital technologies has led them to invest in upskilling programmes. While a few others believe that it has attracted new job opportunities.

As AI is set to replace the repetitive tasks, it also holds the potential to create new ones. Reports predict that AI will create 58 million new jobs by 2022.


The interest in AI increased from 18% in 2018 to 30% in 2019, followed by 26% votes for data science, 18% for cloud computing, and 10% for cybersecurity skills.

See also:
Merely 8% companies in India expected to offer more than 10% salary hikes, says Deloitte survey

These are the top 15 emerging jobs in India, according to LinkedIn

Don’t expect more than 10% salary hike this year unless you are an AI expert