The recent wave of downsizing at tech companies won’t last long as the demand for tech know-how, such as artificial intelligence (AI), only intensifies.
Above all, while AI can help companies to some extent address the shortage of applicants, especially for the most mundane tasks, the demand for qualified professionals will continue to grow in the coming months.
So says Brent Hayward, CEO and General Manager of the MuleSoft division of Salesforce. I caught up with Mr. Hayward at the recent Salesforce meeting in New York and he gave me his perspective on the changing landscape of technology skills.
Alleviating skills shortages
“There aren’t enough developers in the world,” he said. “We have already reached the pace where application development far exceeds the ability to recruit developers.
According to Hayward, the complexity of today’s environments also contributes to this dynamic: “It’s almost impossible to be a complete developer. There are too many technologies. And what courses do you have to take in a lifetime to know how all these layers of technology work?”
The employment figures in the United States confirm Mr. Hayward’s assertions. “Demand, particularly for people with technology skills, remains favorable,” Deloitte analysts report in The Wall Street Journal. “For employees in the information and technology sector, demand is particularly strong. There were 41,000 more hires than layoffs in January, with 99,000 job openings.”
While innovative AI and automation technologies can mean companies need more highly-skilled talent, these emerging technologies can also help alleviate skills shortages.
AI will help level the playing field
AI and automation can perform low-level integration tasks, shifting developers’ tasks to “auditing and validation,” Hayward said.
As part of this skill enrichment process, he said AI will help level the playing field: “We’re going to realize that in low-code, no-code, and even pro-code scenarios, we’re giving everyone the best knowledge.”
At the same time, human talent will remain key to implementation. “I don’t know if it will ever replace the most skilled and experienced developer you have,” he said of AI. “This is an opportunity to level the playing field and bring the lowest common denominator to the level of the median. There will be fewer mistakes, fewer problems, and you’ll be able to build at scale more efficiently.”
According to Hayward, the challenge for enterprises – and this is where tech talent will remain in high demand – is “the need to connect this backend, pro-developer integration and systems automation models with more modern, task-based workflows.
These two worlds intertwine. While the world lacks developers, the world also has more and more very smart people who use applications and know the data model. With these worlds coming together, we are witnessing a very powerful paradigm shift.”
Source: “ZDNet.com”