Rollercoaster: 2016 couldn’t have been described in a better way. IT and ITES, the fastest growing job sectors, made the news with massive layoffs.  The Automotive and Manufacturing, FMCG, and Real Estate sectors also had to bear the major brunt of demonetization.

Here are certain forecasts for 2017 career trends and skills in demand:

Career Trends 2017

Era of Technology

The technological revolution and automation of jobs has become an essential component of every business. If you are a techie, this is a golden era, as every business is well aware of the fact that to remain competitive in the market, they need to invest and empower their tech teams.

Conventional businesses like manufacturing, FMCG and agriculture are all churning their recruitment process and focusing on investing more in acquiring good engineering talent. The trend is here to stay for the next few years.

Evolution of Startup Jobs

When it comes to startups, the hiring trends are looking quite different in 2017. There will no longer be massive hiring in the e-commerce startups, which are laid on the strong foundation of a billion-dollar funding. However, there will be openings in the technology-led startups in education, finance and media with a boom in Artificial Intelligence and IOT.

Troubled Campus Placements

The IT/ITES sectors are likely to add less jobs just like in 2016 due to the automation of the process across the industries.

Automation is in

2016 has already witnessed the beginning of the automation of processes. Software testing alone once accounted for 30 percent of IT jobs, but was on its last legs in 2016 as automation swept jobs away. Technology implementation has become a lot cheaper for businesses to push for automated processes, which also cuts costs and time. Job seekers will need to reskill themselves to deliver

Jobs and Skills of 2017

• Crunchers and Developers: Businesses today want a talented pool that is able to digest large data they generate–one which is keen to work with numbers, spreadsheets and databases.The tech revolution continues to integrate with our lives. Developers and techies are the ones who will enjoy this year of growth with more and more requirements of app development.

• Healers: Good news for the pharma and healthcare sectors, which will continue to boom with the creation of new jobs in spaces like home care and physical/occupational therapy.

• Managers and Salespeople: Managers will always be in demand, from backend operations to facility management, from production lines to services companies. Are you effective in team handling and meeting targets? You are in demand! In this tightened up economy, sales people become more and more valuable.