A new year starts and we're excited to see what the tech sector is going to bring for us. While we can't know the future, we've consulted with some of the Ironhack team to give you our predictions and tech trends to watch in 2023. Here is what our team had to say:
Don’t be put off by the tech layoffs story - digital skills are still in demand
Recent news has been dominated by layoffs and hiring freezes in the tech sector. The reality is that the digital sector will still face a skills gap that is much bigger than the layoff crisis. From an Ironhack perspective, the number of students joining its courses and company hiring partners has not seen a decline.
José Maria Garrett, Global Outcomes Lead at Ironhack, explains: "The demand for digital skills from companies in the tech sector has not declined in the last quarter of 2022. Even in a more risk-averse economic environment, tech employment continues to increase because of that demand for skills. In reality, the biggest change we're seeing is that mid and senior talent profiles are changing jobs less frequently vs. the abnormal behaviour we saw during and immediately after COVID. We have shifted from "the great resignation" into a new stage: "the great renegotiation."
Garrett continues: “It's a great time for junior talent to leverage new skills development and access the tech sector within more traditional industries which have an increased demand for those digital skills. It also provides an opportunity for scale-ups and SMEs to acquire great talent that might not otherwise have been available to them whilst employed in larger tech companies.”
Generalists vs. specialists shifting in tech organisations
Felipe Rocha, Lead Teacher in Data Analytics at Ironhack, explains a shift from specialists to generalists.
According to Felipe, “The job market is changing and we can now see generalists thriving as data professionals. The wide range of knowledge that Ironhack bootcamps equips students with improves their ability to make connections that specialists might not. Having a professional that is capable of "wearing different hats" and navigating the vast world of data can be a big win, especially for smaller tech companies and teams”.
Gabriel Pizzolante, UK Growth Marketer at Ironhack, adds: "At Ironhack our bootcamps prepare people for a wide range of skills within the field that they choose, making it easy to become a more generalist professional with the option to specialise if that’s what they require in future. For example, our Web Development bootcamp equips them with a full-stack development skill set that can then be developed towards front-end or back-end development in any industry of their choice. Our UX/UI Design bootcamp provides concepts and frameworks of user experience, user interface and basics of front-end development. These can then be used in a multitude of roles as the Ironhack graduate finds opportunities and gains more experience.”
Bootcamp uptake will exponentially increase not just from career changers but from school leavers
Skills bootcamps like Ironhack have always been a great alternative for career-changers to launch a whole new career in a very short timeframe. The intensity and the level of commitment required offers an effective alternative to having to go back to university to pursue a dream.
Pizzolante explains: “While we are very focused on the career-changer, we are starting to see more applicants who are dropping out of university because it wasn’t right for them. What we’re observing is that Gen Z is taking a new approach to higher education. They value professional development at a faster pace over and above a traditional career path. In 2023, we expect to see an increase in school leavers taking bootcamps as a fast-track alternative in just nine weeks, as opposed to taking years to study for an undergraduate degree.”
Employers will prioritise spending on upskilling career starters and reskilling existing teams over hiring senior tech professionals
Over the past decade the more experienced tech professionals have been in high demand, making it very hard to retain them. With changing market conditions, we predict that more companies will shift the focus to invest in their existing teams to develop them in-house, foster loyalty and retain them for longer. By having the right infrastructure, more employees within companies will be able to shift careers to technical roles and there will be more opportunities for bootcamp graduates to gain the development they need within a tech company.
When it comes to reskilling, according to Jan Molendijk, Lead Teacher in Data Analytics at Ironhack, “In today's super competitive job market, with quiet and not-so-quiet quitting, employers have no choice but to use the potential they already have in house. It is easier and cheaper to retrain employees that are competent professionals in newer technology, than it is to find new people that have had recent training in that new technology. The big plus is that these people already speak the language of the company. And this is also a win for the employees, they not only keep their job, but gain valuable new skills, knowledge and experience”.
Energy-efficient technology design will become more popular
The world is facing an energy crisis, affecting not only the UK but most countries around the world. Saving on energy is increasingly a priority. For this reason, the use of technology should also be a consideration. According to Ironhack’s course leaders, developers are being wiser about creating and optimising code that does not consume high levels of energy in every-day or weak devices.
Mathieu Subin, Lead Teacher in Web Development at Ironhack, comments, “The way code is being optimised for use is more similar to old technologies like we would see on cartridge games decades ago. This may lead to new design patterns and/or paradigms”.
