Coding is quickly becoming an essential skill for the future as technology is embedded itself into every aspect of our lives. From smartphones to home automation systems, the need for technology skills continues to grow.
Listed below are some reasons why learning to code is the most important skill of the future:
- Coding skills are good for your career prospects as it helps you to problem solve.
- We are spending more than ever on Information Technologies (IT).
- Digital commerce is growing rapidly across the globe.
- The range of jobs involving coding is growing.
- More job roles now require coding skills.
- Coding skills attract higher wages.
- Our need for cyber security has grown.
- Learning to code is good for your brain.
- Programming courses are available at all levels.
- A career that will grow with your skills.
Findings from a US market research firm Burning Glass Technologies show that nearly 7 million job openings in the U.S. required coding skills last year. This represents 20 percent of the total market for “career-track” jobs , indicating that to land a lucrative and established role within the workforce, it is preferential to have knowledge and understanding of how to code.
It is apparent from the Burning Glass report that business, educators and civil society must combine their efforts to ensure the workforce of the future is equipped with the skills to compete and thrive in the digital economy. Researchers project demand for jobs in the tech industry that require coding skills will grow 25 percent faster than the overall labor market.
With the changing landscape of the workforce and the rise of automation, more jobs are being replaced by technology. Coding skills can be applied to a variety of fields, including finance, healthcare and education and as technology continues to evolve and become more integrated into various industries, the versatility of coding skills will become essential.
According to a report by McKinsey, skill shifts have accompanied the introduction of new technologies in the workplace since at least the Industrial Revolution, but the adoption of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will mark an acceleration over the shifts of even the recent past.
Over the next ten to 15 years, the adoption of automation and AI technologies will transform the workplace as people increasingly interact with ever-smarter machines. These technologies, and that human-machine interaction, will bring numerous benefits in the form of higher productivity, GDP growth, improved corporate performance, and new prosperity, but they will also change the skills required of human workers.
To measure skill shifts from automation and AI, McKinsey modeled skill shifts going forward to 2030—and found that they have accelerated. While the demand for technological skills has been growing since 2002, it will gather pace in the 2016 to 2030 period.
