A new wave of employers is setting sail towards a path rapidly gaining in popularity and effectiveness: skills-based hiring.
Even the Big Tech giants like LinkedIn, Google, and IBM, usually associated with hiring Ivy League graduates, are now embracing a hiring approach based on skills and cultural fit. This move not only broadens but also ensures diversity in their talent pools. However, despite this shift, there's still a talent shortage due to a scarcity of skills, according to Yahoo Finance.
While many industries are transitioning to skills-based hiring and vocalizing their preference for candidates with adaptable skills and experience, the burning question remains: which skills are in the highest demand?
The job board Indeed.com recently unveiled its list of the top 10 highest-paid skills within the tech industry, showcasing some of the most lucrative salaries advertised on the platform.
If you're already in the tech field or aspiring to break into it, let's take a look at five of these skills so you can strategically plan your next career move this year. Some of these skills may be valuable for you to stand out as a professional or leader in your field, even if you're not in the technology sector.
AI (Artificial Intelligence) Generators
Yep, you guessed it. AI Generators reign supreme atop the highest-paid tech skills on Indeed's list. Some skills associated with this include prompt engineering, ChatGPT, Midjourney, model tuning, AI content creation, and even data analysis. This skill boasts an estimated 47% salary boost, according to Indeed's analysis.
SoC (System on Chip)
SoC stands for "system on chip," and it refers to "an integrated circuit that incorporates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system," according to the report. Resources such as Arm provide valuable course materials on GitHub to help you grasp the fundamentals of this technical skill. The salary potential for someone with this skill is $175k per annum.
Deep Learning
Deep learning forms the backbone of artificial intelligence and is a subset of AI. It's named for the multiple layers in the network, where complex patterns are learned from lower-level, simpler ones. Having this skill can have up to a 44% impact on your salary, and demand will continue as AI is implemented and expanded. So, it's definitely worth considering upskilling to add to your toolbox.
Lua and PyTorch
Are you noticing a common theme here? This is another technical skill closely tied to artificial intelligence. Simply put, "Lua is an open-source AI library, a scientific computing framework, and a programming language based on Lua," says Indeed. PyTorch, on the other hand, is an ML framework from this library used for NLP (natural language processing), where computers can understand and interpret human language. Learning Lua can give you a 43% salary advantage.
Computer Vision
Another big-ticket, high-demand tech skill is computer vision. It's yet another skill closely associated with the field of artificial intelligence, involving "enabling computers to identify and understand objects and people in images and videos. Like other types of AI, computer vision aims to perform and automate tasks that mimic human abilities," says Microsoft.
Computer vision allows an application to gain a high-level understanding of the physical world, extract meaningful information, and make decisions from them. One such example of computer vision in an application would be facial recognition on your phone. Online providers such as Stanford Online offer computer vision courses. This skill has the potential to yield up to a 40% increase in your salary.
As the gig economy continues to evolve, so should you. Future-proof your career with these five in-demand technical skills and stay informed to expand further. Remember, the more you learn, the more you earn.
