Report points to 35% of the workforce by 2025
Staff Reporter
Auckland, March 25, 2022
More than one million workers in New Zealand will need training in digital skills over the next twelve months, according to Amazon Research.
It said that training programmes must cover at least 35% of the workforce and that Cloud and Cybersecurity skills will be in high demand by 2025.
The Research, conducted by Amazon Web Services Inc found that less than a third of New Zealand companies have a proper training plan in place currently.
A Report accompanying the Research, called, ‘The Building Digital Skills for the Changing Workforce,’ said that 76% of organisations that invested in digital skills training saw increased revenue, 91% improved employee productivity, and 80% reported higher employee retention.
The Research was conducted by AlphaBeta, a Strategy and Economics consulting firm.
Critical jobs during the pandemic
“The need for digital skills training has become more acute during the pandemic, with 67% of workers surveyed saying that they will require training in cloud-related skills by 2025 to progress in their careers,” Amazon Research found.
It said that among these workers who feel that they require training in cloud-related skills, 54% feel they need to learn how to make use of cloud-based tools in their work, 32% of workers saying that they will require training in migrating on-premises facilities to the cloud, and 23% feel that they will require cloud architecture design skills.
The Survey had 1039 digitally skilled workers in both technology and non-technology roles, and 300 employers in New Zealand, with representation from public, private, and non-profit sectors of different sizes and industries.
Report highlights
The Report indicates that the ability to use cloud-based tools, such as cloud developer tools, cloud-based communication software, accounting software, and customer relationship management software, is projected to be the most in-demand skill required by employers by 2025, followed by cybersecurity skills. It also highlights the need for more advanced cloud computing skills, and that the ability to migrate on-premises facilities to the cloud and cloud design architecture skills are predicted to be among the top 10 in-demand digital skills by 2025 in New Zealand. Other advanced cloud skills such as machine learning, will be in high demand in businesses from healthcare to agriculture, fintech to media and entertainment.
Among the other highlights of the Report are (1) Technology and non-technology workers will be needed to apply digital technologies to do their jobs (2) Workers in occupations that do not require specialised technical knowledge and skills will need basic technical skills such as knowing how to use word processing software and smartphones (including administrative staff, café owners, human resources managers. (3) The importance of Business and IT managers and IT decision-makers has been noted. Business managers are defined as professionals in middle and senior management levels in hiring and/or people management roles; IT managers are middle and senior management executives with a strong focus on the company’s technology-related function; IT decision-makers are workers who play a significant role in the selection and implementation of IT solutions for their organisation.
Importance of Training
The report indicates that 97% of organisations see a need to train their workers in digital skills, but only 25% have implemented a plan to do so, which could affect their competitiveness in such areas as productivity, innovation, and employee retention.
Employers surveyed who support skills training programmes see significant benefits, with 91% reporting improved employee productivity, 86% stating they were able to fast-track their digitisation goals, 79% achieving cost efficiencies, 80% reporting higher employee retention, and 76% seeing increased revenue.
Genevieve Lim, Director Asia Pacific, AlphaBeta (part of Access Partnership), said, “While the need for digital skills has been growing for years, the research shows that job changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic have accelerated the need for more training for both tech and non-tech workers on digital capabilities in New Zealand. Organisations have improved their digitisation process to cope with the pandemic and ensure their long-term competitiveness,” he said.
Ms Lim said that transitioning into a digital-first economy will help in the recovery from Covid-19 and secure a stronger economic future.
“There is an urgent need for governments to work together with employers, training providers, and workers to meet these diverse and growing digital learning needs,” she said.
Amazon’s focus
Amazon Web Services is focused on breaking down barriers to help solve this challenge and is investing hundreds of millions of dollars globally as part of a global commitment to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people by 2025. AWS offers over 500 free digital training courses, available to anyone with a desire to learn and an internet connection.
The company also works directly with customer and partner organisations to help them upskill their employees. Comprehensive skills enablement programmes are designed to build cloud skills to help develop teams so they can more effectively innovate in the cloud. In New Zealand, we run programmes with organisations such as the University of Auckland.
A new generation of Cloud pros
To prepare the next generation of cloud professionals for early cloud careers, and to build a diverse pipeline of entry-level talent into the workforce, AWS collaborates with higher education institutions, nonprofits, workforce development organisations, governments, and employers on a range of digital upskilling programmes.
In New Zealand, this includes programmes like AWS re/Start, which is a free, full-time, 12-week programme that prepares unemployed, underemployed, and transitioning individuals for careers in cloud computing. The programme collaborates with Te Pūkenga, the country’s largest tertiary education provider, to build local talent, including those from Māori and Pasifika communities, by offering AWS Cloud skills development and job opportunities.
Tim Dacombe -Bird, Country Manager for AWS Public Sector in New Zealand, said that many organisations accelerated their digital transformation plans during the pandemic.
“This drove an increased need for employers and their workers to advance skills training for cloud computing, cybersecurity, and machine learning. The AWS Building Digital Skills for the Changing Workforce report shows an urgency for workers and employers to increase digital skills knowledge and maximise the benefits of technology to individuals and organisations. AWS is committed to collaborating with industry and government in New Zealand to address the digital skills shortage. We are encouraging a culture of lifelong learning for the future and current workforce through programmes like AWS re/Start,” he said.
