5 in-demand skills to learn in 2021

The University of Delhi on Tuesday released an official notice to suspend all the classes immediately from 4th-16th May 2021 due to a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases. 

Since classes are suspended now and everyone is forced to stay in, students have got some time that can be utilized in an efficient way. Apart from spending time on the OTT platforms, one can very easily develop some in-demand technical skills just by giving an hour a day and can monetize it effectively. 

Here are the 5 in-demand skills that you can learn  –

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning 

AI is regarded as the future and is changing the world every single day. Hiring growth for AI practitioners grew 32% between 2019 and 2020. As per Linkedin statistics, AI jobs are ranked #1 in emerging jobs in 2020. 

From Siri/ Alexa, chatbots to Tesla, everything revolves around machine learning. According to McKinsey, 49% of companies are currently exploring or planning to use machine learning. The best part about Machine Learning is that it can be applied to every industry from automobile to healthcare and it will stay here for a long time. 

• Blockchain 

If you have ever heard about Bitcoin, Dogecoin, or if you’re an Elon Musk fan, you probably know that Blockchain is in trend these days. It is regarded as the future of technology. According to Gartner, the business value of blockchain will be $3.1 trillion by 2030. Tech giants like Facebook, Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft are working on blockchain. 

• Mobile and Web Development

In the times of the internet, everything is on the web. A website is like a shop in a physical world. There are 3.8 billion smartphone users in the world today, and that number is continuing to grow every year. In India, access to smartphones and the internet is on an exponential increase. Everyone who has to stay relevant needs a website and an app. It involves learning and practising different computer languages and making the best of apps and websites. In the future, the scope would expand to wearable technologies and AR/VR.

• UI/UX Design

Another in-demand skill these days is UI/UX design. While UI stands for User Interface i.e websites and apps to be visually appealing and UX stands for user experience i.e the working of a website and an app that is tested repeatedly. 

Ultimately, UI is better for those who want to focus on the visuals, layout, and general look and feel of a page or product. UX is better for those who want to use analysis and testing to help a business seamlessly meet its users’ needs. UX design is one of the top five in-demand hard skills according to LinkedIn

• Digital Marketing 

The skill of marketing is relevant for ages and is here to stay. What changes is the medium of marketing. In 2021, it’s the time of Digital Marketing. Every business needs advertising on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook and needs content for their audience. Also, it needs to rank its websites in Google search results. All this is covered under Digital Marketing.

Apart from Mobile and Web Development, which is mostly technology-based skill and relevant for people from technology backgrounds, the other skills are relevant and can be learned by anyone, irrespective of their course, year, and curriculum. 

One can learn all these skills for free. For starting out, and learning the basics, the best place is Youtube. The only drawback youtube has is its unorganized content. Apart from this, Coursera and Udemy have some of the best courses which are made accessible by top universities around the globe. 

With covid-19 hitting last year, it has accelerated the digital process to 5 years in advance. What these skills would have been relevant in 2025, are relevant and in-demand at present.