The top five most in-demand job skills in the US in 2021 are blockchain, cloud computing, analytical reasoning, artificial intelligence, and UX Design. According to Januaitisn, 96,000 new IT jobs will be created, and blockchain will represent 5% to 8%.
Table of Contents
1. Blockchain
- According to Linkedin, Indeed, Forbes, and CNBC, blockchain skill tops the most demanding hard skills in 2020.
- The skill was born in 2009 to support the use of cryptocurrency.
- According to new data from Austin-based job search site Indeed, there was a 90% increase in blockchain, bitcoin, and cryptocurrency job postings.
- According to Januaitisn, 96,000 new IT jobs will be created, and blockchain will represent 5% to 8%.
- It is a novel way to store, validate, authorize, and move data across the internet that has evolved to store and send any digital asset securely.
- Blockchain does not just top the list of the most in-demand skills in the United States but also in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Australia.
- Since January 1, 2020, the share of job postings for cryptocurrency jobs has increased 4.77% on Indeed, while by March 2020, the share of job postings for roles related to cryptocurrency increased by 8.73%.
- The skill has become a business line for the top global corporate companies such as IBM, Oracle, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, Amazon, and American Express.
- It is now being used in industries ranging from shipping to healthcare, from farming and food safety to entertainment and gaming.
2. Cloud Computing
- Cloud computing is the second most demanded hard skill in 2020, according to Linkedin, Indeed, Forbes, and CNBC.
- The skill is in great demand as most companies have adopted the cloud system of storing data.
- Cloud engineers are responsible for developing and managing cloud computing systems for end-users to store files and back up their data.
- Cloud computing skill is required to help companies drive technical architecture, design, and delivery of cloud systems such as Microsoft Azure.
- Demand for AWS professionals has increased by 400% over the past 5 years.
- The demand for people with Cloud Computing skills continues to grow rapidly, with a 12% year over year increase over the past 12 months.
- According to the latest State of U.S. Tech Hiring research, three of the top five positions were related to distributed systems: cloud security, cloud architecture, and cloud engineer.
- Cloud engineers also help with performing migrations and help their firms to negotiate with the cloud service providers, ensure data security, and implement best practices throughout the process.
3. Analytical Reasoning
- Analytical Reasoning is the 3rd most-demanded hard skill for 2019 and 2020.
- Analytical skills refer to your ability to understand and analyze a problem or situation and decide what actions to take next.
- Data has become the foundation of every single business. This has forced organizations to hunt for talents that can interpret data and uncover insights that drive the business’s best decisions.
- IBM estimated a total of 364,000 openings for business analysts across the United States and predicts an increase to over 2.7 million openings in 2020.
- It expects that to jump to more than 2.7 million by 2020.
- Companies look for great employees at investigating a problem and finding the ideal solution efficiently and timely.
4. Artificial Intelligence
- Artificial intelligence (AI) augments the capabilities of the human workforce.
- The people who can harness the power of AI, machine learning, and natural language processing are the ones who will help organizations deliver more relevant, personalized, and innovative products and services.
- This skill is in high demand due to the growing number of companies that want to streamline their workflows and derive insightful data while minimizing costs.
- Between 2018 and 2019 alone, the job’s marketplace saw a 44% increase in demand for candidates with AI or machine learning skills, a 151% increase in demand for candidates with deep learning skills, and a 176% increase in candidates with robotic design skills.
- 84% of US CEOs and business leaders said they feel AI is important to their future.
- AI professionals usually handle AI development by building, testing, implementing AI models, and maintaining the organization’s underlying AI infrastructure.
- Artificial Intelligence is positioned as the 4th most sort-after hard skill of 2020.
- An Indeed report revealed that from June 2019 to July 2020, job searches in artificial intelligence (AI) have witnessed a spike of 106% and further increased by an additional 20% from March 2020 to July 2020.
5. UX Design
- This is the 5th most demanded hard skill job in the United States, according to LinkedIn.
- User experience design is the key to making a digital world work for people.
- Organizations require more expertise to help them build more human-centric products and experiences.
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that there will be a 3% year-on-year growth (through 2028) in demand for industrial UX designers.
Research Strategy
To identify the five most in-demand job skills in the US from 2021, we consulted reports on the said topic by top job/employment industry experts such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, World Economic Forum, and Indeed, and news publication from reputable sources such as Forbes, CNBC, Business Insider, and Business Daily. To define top, we selected the top five in-demand hard skills common to all our sources.
