The tech industry is emerging to become the real champion of this protracted COVID-19 public health crisis. Indeed, the tech industry is the pandemic’s real silver lining.
If recent tech mergers are any indication, the world’s leading tech giants are quickly snapping up one company after another in some of the most lucrative mergers and acquisitions in modern history.
Data from the first half of 2021 shows that last year was a banner year for mergers and acquisitions. The numbers from financial intelligence company Refinitiv reveal that by June 30th, these mergers and acquisitions had already closed deals at a whopping $2.8 trillion.
Tech Companies’ Continuous Expansion
The breakneck speed with which these tech mergers have taken place and the sheer volume of money involved in acquiring various tech companies have left even experts and analysts completely astonished.
One of the landmark acquisitions was that of Microsoft, buying speech-to-text software firm Nuance for an astounding $19.7 billion. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Singaporean ride-hailing and delivery app Grab Holdings went public in the US through a SPAC or special-purpose acquisition company valued at $40 billion.
Big tech firms such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Meta seem to be in a race to acquire more companies, hoping to expand their services and influence. Surely, you have heard Apple execs say that the future is in the cloud, while Meta’s Zuckerberg has directed all his company’s efforts towards realizing the Metaverse.
The Tech Industry in The Perfect Storm
The technology sector’s growth during the pandemic, while other industries suffered a slump, was due to the fact that the tech companies offered products and services that helped keep business operating while the pandemic raged.
Your organization would probably not survive if not for Zoom or Teams. When malls shut down, consumers still found a way to get goods through Amazon. Whether you like it or not, tech has all the answers.
The tech industry kept the global economy functional and gave societies a semblance of normalcy while lockdowns and quarantines were happening left and right. Moreover, these tech industries offered resilience amid a public health emergency. Indeed, the sector birthed terms that are now all too familiar to everyone, such as work-from-home, cloud computing, and digital migration.
The so-called “new normal” is a reality that will be ushered in, almost singlehandedly, by the tech industry. Believe it, or you better believe it—tech is here not only to stay but to lead and define boundaries for what is possible and what is to come.
Are Tech Jobs In-Demand? What Tech Jobs Are the Most In-Demand?
You guessed it. Tech jobs are hot now and will remain so in the foreseeable future. Hence, if you are a data scientist, software developer, web developer, software engineer, data engineer, computer network engineer, eCommerce technology manager, IT Manager, and the like, you are definitely in demand. There are plenty of lucrative job market sectors that are looking to hire someone like you.
According to data from the World Economic Forum, nine trends will usher in the “new normal,” and all these trends have one thing in common – they are all powered by the tech sector and the men and women working behind the tech industry.
1. Online Commerce and Contactless Delivery
Consumers are now embracing the plethora of goods that may be purchased through online shopping. Supply chain and logistics experts need to work together to ensure a seamless experience for the consumer, from online shopping to delivery.
Additionally, you must keep abreast with the latest trends in online commerce, such as contactless delivery, wherein human-to-human contact is kept at a minimum to avoid any health hazards. This is also why robotics and data science jobs are in-demand these days.
2. Digital Payments
When was the last time you used cash to pay for something? Indeed, the tech-led new normal will be all about digital payments through cards, digital wallets, and even cryptocurrency. Aside from credit cards, digital payments now have mobile wallets, crypto wallets, and even micro-wallets. Soon, cash will truly become obsolete. This field will pave the way for more jobs in digital payment analyst and payment gateway solutions.
3. Work from Home/Remote Work
The most recent edition of McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey revealed that 87 percent of Americans across all ages, demographics, geographies, and sectors prefer a flexible working arrangement.
The study also revealed that digital innovators – those who work at the forefront of technological innovation – prefer to work remotely. That is about 77 percent of individuals working in mathematical and computer occupations. Tied with remote work is the need for data management and data security experts tasked with managing and securing data.
4. Distance Learning
The mainstream attention that online learning is getting is here to stay. This calls for highly skilled individuals in virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and robotics. Furthermore, distance learning abolishes transnational borders as it enables you to learn or register for an online course regardless of geographical location. Hence, educators must learn to embrace this prevailing trend.
5. Telemedicine
If you need to see your doctor, you no longer need to head over to the clinic. Instead, you simply book a “teleconsultation.” How about having your vital signs taken digitally and measured by devices? Or initial diagnoses made by chatbots?
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the network of physical objects— “things”—that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies to connect and exchange data with other devices and systems via the internet. This directly impacts various sectors, such as healthcare, and the way doctors and other health professionals will handle medical data.
This means that the still nascent Internet of Things will form a large part of your life very soon. Estimates from Business Insider, as published in Time Magazine, project that $6 trillion will be invested in IoT in the next five years and that there is $24 billion worth of IoT devices that are already installed.
6. Online Entertainment
Creativity and artistic expression have also migrated online and come in the form of gaming, virtual tours, and streaming platforms. The tech industry has completely changed the meaning of entertainment and where to find it.
For instance, in the last few years, free network television has struggled to compete with streaming entertainment, while companies like Netflix and Amazon have entirely revolutionized the moviegoing experience. Thus, online video editors, influencers, and other creative jobs will continue to rise in the coming years.
7. Tech Industry-Led Supply Chain
The world has just emerged from the pandemic curbs severely disrupting the supply chain. Yet, despite the setback, data science breakthroughs in Big Data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and Blockchain are now coming up with more resilient supply chain management systems by improving data accuracy and encouraging data sharing.
During the low-tech era, the supply chain industry mostly referred to factory inventory and transportation logistics. However, with the birth of Big Data and cloud computing, forecasting supply and demand in the next few years may be performed with near-perfect accuracy.
8. Robotics
If you were once working for retail, food, manufacturing, logistics, and the hospitality industry pre-pandemic, you most likely know how severely hit these industries were because they are very labor-intensive. Thanks to robots and drones, these services may already be delivered sans any human interaction.
Advances in robotics may take over virtually all sectors of your company that can be automated. This is why you now find restaurants being served by robots, factories being manned by bots instead of humans, and driverless cars will soon become ubiquitous in many cities.
9. Information Technology and 5G
The tech industry relies on stable and high-speed internet to make things work. With this, the expansion of 5G promises to make the innovative services of tech companies available to a broader population. Experts predict that 5G will reach its full potential in 2035. By then, 5G will be able to connect everything, including machines, devices, and objects. This will also make the internet more reliable, with higher performance and increased efficiency.
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Are you looking to be actively involved and connected in further shaping any of these trends and have a rewarding tech career?
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If you are an innovator in robotics, the Internet of Things, data security, cloud computing, and other positions in tech, the Fox Search Group aims to collaborate with you and connect you to the right career opportunity in the industry in this golden age of tech. Contact us now!