2019 will exhibit spectacular opportunities in data science, analytics and automation

• One third of the population will be Gen Zers (18-20 years of age).
• Half the population will become online
• Data science will be the focus area
• Skill development programmes will improve the employability of educated youth
• Complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, co-ordination, emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility, negotiation, judgement and decision making skills will decide the career.
• Advanced degree holders from US Universities will get H1B visa easily
• Brexit will favour opportunities in UK and EU
• UK will implement one year post study work visa as part of UK edu and skill policy
• Vegetarianism will increase during 2019
• New Gen technologies like IOT, Analytics, Drone, AI, Robotics, Bloch Chain, Edge Computing, GIS based computing and Cyber Security will create more job opportunities in 2019

Technology values are characteristics that consumers would seek out in products, services and technologies over next decade includes assistance, connectivity, health, intelligence, personalisation, security. Sustainability and user creativity.

Changing trends

2019 will be the year of data science, automation, internet of things, skill development, innovation based technologies, Talent analytics, automation, block chain technologies, advanced IT and smart courses. Data science and machine learning are some of the emerging sectors which can create lot of employment opportunities. Skills in cloud services, big data analytics, machine learning and Artificial intelligence are going to be critical for the data science professional. Data scientist, data analyst, data architect, data statistician, ML engineer, ML Specialist, Technical Architect and Data engineer are some of the most popular roles in which they can work. Digital services sector will show robust growth in the year to come. Gartner studies suggest that 75 percent of the 10 lakhs registered companies’ jobs in India are going to invest in Machine learning and Data science. Traditional companies started acquiring digital companies in India. Banking and financial services are in the forefront with almost 44 percent of jobs falling in the domain commerce has also emerged as the largest market for data science professionals which account for 12 percent of the analytics jobs in 2019. Other sectors where data science professionals are in demand are healthcare (12 percent), energy (8 percent), telecom (6 percent) and media (6 percent).

Andhra Pradesh is one of the most preferred destinations as the hiring destination. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu will emerge s within the first five destinations as the preferred work location and hiring destination.

In the era of digitalisation, skill will be the deciding factor to improve the employability of educated/unemployed youths. Three key factors include digitalisation and integration of vertical and horizontal value chains, digitalisation of product and service offerings and digital business models and customer access. Without appropriate skilling it will be difficult to sustain in the career market. Artificial intelligence (AI) will become the motive force for the fourth industrial revolution. AI, Big data, automation and quantum computing could fundamentally alter the economic progress. For productive employment and decent work, we need to work for opportunities for new skills and new sectors. Water, sanitation, waste management, energy, roof top electricity systems, prefab technology and infrastructure are emerging as the prospective areas. Next generation infrastructure revolution will improve efficiencies, drive growth, offer citizens homes, work places, transport systems and utilities.

Government of India is aiming to commercially introduce 5G services in the country by the end of 2020 in line with the world. Internet connectivity would become much faster and would form the backbone of the emerging era of Internet of things. The transition from 4G to 5G will serve both consumers and multiple industries. Ericsson report reveals that it will enable 27 $ billion revenue opportunity for Indian telecom operators by 2026. Education, healthcare, Innovation in design and engineering including development of high tech metro rail systems will generate more employment opportunities in 2019.

Legal framework set for use of drones will create more opportunities in mapping like GIS, GPS, GST, surveying and photography. Government has approved full digital ecosystem for granting permission to use drones. This will facilitate opportunities in precision agriculture, aviation sector and start-up industry.

Recent proposal of Department of Home land Security (DHS) of United States to give priority to advanced degree holders from US Universities for H1B visa will benefit Indian students. During 2018, out of 65000 H1B visa were sanctioned and of which 74 percent applicants were from India. Under H1B visa, technocrats, scientists, doctors, accountants, engineers, Veterinarians and teachers can work in US. Science, technology, engineering, mathematics, Nursing and management are some of the prospective sectors which gain more H1B visas. Recently more number of Indian students are started pursuing education in United States. South Indian students rank more in pursuing US education when compared to students from North Indian States. While assigning H1B Visas, TCS was included as one of the rated companies in US. It will show an upward trend in 2019. Trade war between US and China will facilitate Indians to get more H1 B Visa.Banking recruitment will increase during 2019. IBPS had already called for Probationary officer/ Clerical or Specialist officer cadre.

Air cargo business will exhibit a growth of 12.9 percent in the coming year to achieve National Civil Aviation Policy vision of reaching 10 million tons cargo volume by 2027. According to Assocham studies it will generate more employment in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities where domestic cargo terminals are on the verge of expansion. ASSOCHAM suggested to implement a rating system for cargo terminals in line with Airport Service Quality ratings which will create lot of opportunities in infrastructure, facilities and logistics.

CARE ratings

CARE ratings based on annual reports of 1610 companies employing about 6 million people and generating net sales of 5.6 lakh Crore reveals that on an average 0.2 million jobs were added annually in the formal work force from FY 15 to FY 2018. But the employment growth has been inconsistent over the years. Telemedicine will be one of the growing sectors in the coming year and will create employment opportunities in rural areas. Through 2.5 lakh service centers it will train 80 crores of people in the rural areas of 32 countries. Govt of India has identified Singapore startup RING as the nodal agency for Telemedicine.

India has been ranked as the 58^th most competitive economy in the World economic forum’s global competitiveness index for 2018. India with a score of 62 ranks highest among G20 countries. India’s competitive advantage includes market size (rank3), Innovation capability (Rank 31) and business dynamism with ranking of 58. More investments will be necessary to spur innovation beyond hubs of excellence and diffuse economic growth more broadly. Indian companies can access the third largest market in the world and would benefit from increased trade openness to drive productivity growth.

Separation of EU from UK as a sequel to Brexit will become reality during 2019 even though lot f apprehensions exist in this sector. Indians top the list of over stayers in UK according to Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth office. Globally Britain and India are looking at opportunities for Co-operation with India beyond Brexit.

According to report by the Centre for Sustainable Employment of Azim Premji University, 10 percent increase in GDP results in less than one percent increase in employment. The rate of unemployment among the youth and higher educated has touched 16 percent.

Health care and education sector will witness spectacular growth in the year to come. Across the world during 2019 there will be substantial increase in number of people who are vegans. There will be an increase of 10 percent in number of vegetarians during this period. Even United States predict that a quarter of 25-34 year old Americans become vegetarians. Advertising will show an additional annual growth of 2% during 2019. In 2019 Germany will follow an intellectual and psychological crisis and the career opportunities will be reduced. Europe’s single currency Euro will celebrate 20^thbirth day during 2019. The reforms by French president Immanuel macron will start functioning during 2019 and will generate more employment opportunities. Indian economy will overtake Britain’s economy during 2019. Half of the world’s population will become online during 2019. India’s GDP growth will attain 7.6%. Fashion industry will exhibit spectacular growth during 2019. Online shops will attain more than 50% of the market. Moreover AI will help online shoppers to assess fit and shape more accurately. Decentralization, digitization and decarbonisation will emerge as new technologies in the energy sector. The industry will see proliferation of solar and wind sector. The energy companies will be increasingly concerned with the sources and quality of services it provides with innovations in tune with the technological interventions. A digital network is beginning to connect distributed systems of energy. Aviation and Cyber security will generate more employment opportunities. Amazon, Flip cart will add 80000 jobs in e commerce sector.

Services sector growth

Services sector will create more than 67 percent employment opportunities in the country. New Year will exhibit spectacular growth employee recruitment and 11-15 percent increase in salary hike. Net employment outlook will be reduced during the first two quarters in India. There will be stagnation in 2019 first two quarters in India due to general election. But gradually it will increase to three percentage points higher than the previous quarter. In 2019 employees will be rated based on data science, analytics, artificial intelligence and talent analytics. All the above sectors along with digitalisation, E commerce, food processing, health services, ayurveda, yoga, accounting, Banking, Financial and insurance services will show robust growth in the country. Umpteen opportunities will be created in accounting, logistics, supply chain management, retail management, network media, digital marketing, e banking and mobile banking in the country.

Retail sector in rural, Tier2 and 3 cities will exhibit double digit growth in sales and employment. Healthcare, textile and IT sectors exhibit only single digit growth in sales and employment.Finance sector exhibits positive job growth.Packaging industry will generate more employment.

In tune with the growth in 2018, India will continue to emerge as the third largest start-up ecosystem in the World. Barriers to start business will come down but entrepreneurship will regain. Entrepreneurs will also include new mothers who want more time at home and 75% more females than males prefer working from home. Students will try to become employers after establishing start-ups in ICT, agri allied, food processing, education and other services sectors. At a time when prospects for ready to eat and ready to cook products are emerging across the world, food processing sector will exhibit annual growth rate of 20-25 percent in the country. Food outsourcing will improve and food market will emerge as 55 percent of retail market during 2019.

Career trends

Appropriate skill sets decide the future careers. Skill development will acquire momentum across the globe. Technical, supervisory, managerial and customised skill development programmes will attain popularity in the New Year. National level skill universities may emerge which will facilitate lot of transformations in the job market. Automation, machine learning and block chain technology will decide the future of work as suggested by ILO which will start replacing the traditional sectors. By 2022 nine percent work force would be in new jobs which do not exist today. 37 percent would be in jobs which will radically change the skill sets. 21 percent of workforce will face existential threat. 20-25 percent jobs will be in organised sector and the share of organised sector will reach 10 percent from the current 8 percent level. Thus organised workforce will be around 46-48 million by 2022.

Need for Skill development courses

During 2018 Make in India, Digital India and Skill India cannot create envisaged employment opportunities in Manufacturing, Information and Communication technology and skill development in the country. Realising the shortfall, Govt of India may facilitate to create more employment opportunities as part of pre-election home work. Manufacturing sector which is providing only 14 percent employment opportunities can create up to 25 percent employment opportunities in 2019. Construction and infrastructure sectors will create more employment opportunities which can facilitate Architecture, Civil, Mechanical, electrical and electronics, electronics and Communication, Computer, IT and Biomedical engineering in the coming years. Core engineering graduates require skill development programmes as part of value addition to get appropriate job positions. Green technology will emerge as one of the potential sectors in India giving due initiatives to improve quality of air we breathe and clean, affordable and reliable sources of energy.

Design and New gen courses

Hospitality, Tourism, Retail, Supply chain, logistics and agri business management sectors will exhibit higher growth rate similar to 2018 in 2019. There will be more takers for retail management, Hospitality management, Hotel management, airline and airport management and transport management courses. Art and design will be the area which can create lot of employment opportunities globally. Number of students aspiring for foot wear design, Fashion technology, Apparel design, fashion design, furniture design, fashion communication, knitwear design, jewellery design and Bachelor of design programmes of Footwear Institute of India, National Institute of Design, National Institute of Fashion technology and Indian Institute of Technologies will increase during the year 2019.

Smart jobs

Campus recruitment will increase over 42 percent during the year 2019. Courses like GPS, GST which can be used as part of smart technologies will emerge. Smart cities envisage for sustainable, high quality of life in terms of infrastructure, mobility, connectivity, technology and environment, availability of resources and overall living conditions and experience. Global move to reduce the use of fossil fuels like Petrol and Diesel will pave way for electric, solar or hybrid vehicles which in turn facilitate spectacular growth in Automobile design and engineering. By 2030 more number of electric or hybrid vehicles will be commercially available across the world. Integrated courses like mechatronics, embedded computing, system design, automobile engineering, biomedical sciences, bio informatics, developmental sciences, humanities and social sciences; English, etc will acquire more importance. There will be more takers for students aspiring for integrated post graduate courses and inter disciplinary research in the country.

STEM and Customised higher education programmes

Prospects for Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Mathematics, Management and health related courses will increase both in India and abroad. Chartered Accountant, ICWAI, chartered institute of Management accountant programme, Chartered management accountant, CIMA global, Asset management, Risk assessment, financial analyst, actuarial science, project management and ACCA programme will attract more students. Combined accounting course with GST compliant courses will emerge from ISDC, UK which can create more employment opportunities. Prospects for commerce, Business studies, management programmes, International business, trade related courses, intellectual property rights and patent law will attain more importance at post graduate and doctoral level studies. Courses related to performing arts, visual communication, business economics, business communication, android development, etc will create more job opportunities. As part of AYUSH, Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Sidha and Homeopathy courses will attract more number of students. Ayurveda will globally emerge as one of the most wanted courses in the years to come.

Agribusiness , Veterinary science, Fisheries technology, food processing, Dairy technology, Food technology, Poultry product technology, post harvest technology, High value agriculture, environmental science, logistics, supply chain management, courses related to packaging, nanoscience, organic/natural farming will be the focus areas during 2019. Courses like English, economics, social sciences, customised psychology programmes, foreign languages, developmental studies, embryology, public administration, media studies, paramedical courses like physiotherapy, optometry, nursing, audiology and speech language pathology, nutrition and dietetics will attract more students.

Screening tests

Students aspiring for National eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical courses, Joint Engineering Entrance Examination(Main), Birla Institute of Technology and Science-BITSAT National Institute of Fashion Technology, National Institute of Design, English and Foreign language University courses, Humanities and Social Sciences Courses of IIT, Chennai, National Council for Hotel Management’s Hospitality and Hotel administration programme, CLAT for admission to National law Universities, State Medical, Agricultural and Engineering entrance test will gradually increase during the year 2019. National Testing Agency will conduct JEE (Main) and NEET. At the post graduate level examinations like CAT, GATE, ICAR JRF, CSIR SRF, Civil services examination, Kerala Administrative Service, Bank PO, NIFT PG examination, GRE, TOEFL, IELTS and GMAT will attract students aspiring for education in India and Abroad respectively. Students aspiring for under graduate programme will increase and they will prepare for SAT and English proficiency examinations.

Overseas education

Substantial changes will be witnessed in the trends in overseas education during 2019. United States will give priority to advanced degree holders from US Universities for H1B visa will benefit Indian students. This will facilitate more students to pursue for graduate programmes in United States. Brexit will be implemented during first half of 2019 and will promote overseas education opportunities for EU and UK. Career opportunity in UK will be improved further. UK may relax ban on post study work visa ban as a sequel to National skill and education policy. Germany and France may witness economic recession and will affect international students. But Macron’s reforms will try to correct some of the challenges faced as a sequel to recession. Overseas students will prefer India for higher education. China will implement novel programmes in AI, Robotics, IOT and Analytics. Technology, Entrepreneurship, start-ups and skill development are some of the areas where India is exhibiting spectacular growth. United States, Canada, Australia and Singapore will again emerge as the potential destinations for Indian students. United States’ pay structure for employees working under H1B visa and the recent sops will attract more Indian students. But US may witness economic recession during second half of 2019. Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, France, Germany and Ireland will continue to give post study work visa up to two years.

During 2019 there will be steady increase in numbers of students aspiring for education in United States, Canada, UK, Australia, Singapore, China and European countries like Germany, France, New Zealand, Netherlands and Georgia. But Germany and France may witness economic recession during 2019. More number of students will try for medical education in China, Philippines, Georgia and Russia. But they require NEET eligibility for admission. Students interested to pursue pre medical courses in United States, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Canada may increase. They require SAT and TOEFL/IELTS scores for admission. More number of Indian students will be interested to pursue graduate programmes in Science an9 Management from US, Canada, UK, Australia and Singapore when compared to under graduate programmes. Students aspiring for Canada immigration from India will increase during 2019. More number of professional will undertake management programmes for managerial positions.

Emerging technologies, disruptive business models and rising customer expectations will reshape the business. Transformations in value chain with Engineering, design, manufacturing, project management and prefab technology will emerge. Courses and employment opportunities related to refineries, petrochemicals, aerospace industry and power plants including nuclear sector may increase in USA, UK, Canada, China and Australia. High quality infrastructures which can improve efficiencies, drive growth, offer citizens homes, work places, transport systems including High tech metro rail systems and utilities will improve in India. Aviation sector will exhibit spectacular growth in Tier-2 and 3 cities since seven out of 10 seats sold on flights to small cities.