The demand for tech professionals is increasing exponentially as digital skills become a requirement for businesses. However, the world is facing a serious shortage of tech professionals. According to a forecast by the World Economic Forum, 50% of the world’s labor force will need to upskill in order to keep pace with technological advancements and automation. Similarly, digital transformation will change over one billion jobs. Yet the majority of workers around the world lack the digital skills to meet the demands of their jobs. According to a recent study, three in four employers in the world (data from 40 countries) claim a work shortage. On the other hand, millions of young people find themselves unemployed as they lack the basic digital skills for in-demand jobs. Low-code/no-code software solutions can offer a solution to this labor shortage and close the gap for workers who quickly need to acquire digital skills. Proficiency in low-code/no-code applications will provide candidates with a competitive edge in the job market.
Low-code/no-code software allows citizen developers and business experts to build business applications without requiring high technical expertise. With citizen development becoming an important part of all organizations’ business strategy, the demand for workers with proficiency in low-code/no-code app development is increasing. Expertise in low-code/no-code app development has become an expected skill set for potential employees.
Citizen Development
As discussed above, digital skills are becoming a part of almost all technical jobs. Employees should be proficient in using technology to streamline data collection, automate daily processes and leverage mobile technology. To achieve digital transformation, employees should be acquainted with advancements in digital technologies. This is where the skills gap seeps in. Learning code is not an easy task. It requires a lot of time, patience and effort. Add mobile development skills to the list, and there’s an even larger skills gap. Low-code/no-code app development can play a major role in addressing the skills gap. With pre-built apps and components, low-code/no-code development platforms offer an intuitive environment for designing software without the need to be proficient in coding. Such platforms can be easily used by people without programming skills to build flexible interfaces their companies need. However, low code can also be used by IT departments to deliver faster digital solutions while freeing up time to focus on more complex coding tasks.
Additionally, low-code naturally aligns with the millennial proclivity to be digitally savvy. This generation is more comfortable than ever with using digital technologies in all aspects of their lives. Thus, they are more inclined and open to using low-code/no-code platforms and gaining some expertise in the domain.
Empowering Users
Low-code/no-code platforms empower citizen developers or business users to “skill up” in an increasingly digital society. By empowering business users to develop applications without the need for coding, low-code generates jobs directly or indirectly. The rate of technological advancement tells us that it is no longer favorable for companies to take months to develop a single app. Since the software has a life of three to five years, taking several months to develop apps is not conducive to the competitive market. As such, low-code/no-code app development can empower business users to develop applications quickly. However, citizen developers should work with IT management to ensure that the app adheres to all the company’s compliance requirements and governance guidelines. This is because citizen developers may not be proficient in scaling apps.
Business Experts Understand Business Application Need
Business needs are continuously evolving, especially since after the pandemic, when so many people are remote or using mobile apps to run businesses. At this rapid pace, it is not always easy for IT departments to continuously craft new apps and immediately update apps to match evolving circumstances and needs.
Business users who are close to daily tasks, data collection requirements and ongoing processes, are in an excellent position to understand urgent needs for specific business applications. As a result, business users are in a much better position to collect department requirements and propose an application that caters to those specific needs. In such situations, low-code or no-code development solutions equip business users to develop applications directly based on their needs.
As discussed above, low-code has tremendous potential and benefits in the current digitally charged environment. Here are some benefits for candidates learning low-code skills:
1. Bridge Business and IT
Low-code/no-code is an easy entry point for someone in their early career phases interested in working in the IT department. By learning low-code solutions for streamlining business processes and automating workflows, employees can take a step towards interfacing with IT departments or understanding the basics of coding. With necessary low-code skills, employees can also become leaders in cross-functional groups or digital transformation teams responsible for introducing low-code/no-code solutions and rapidly introducing new business applications. There is a huge gap in this space, as only 29% of IT leaders feel confident that they have the right training mechanisms for non-developers to build applications.
2. Increase Your Salary
As employees grow their low-code skills, their salaries will correspondingly increase to reflect digital proficiency. Since low-code/no-code skills will increase in demand, proficient users will make significant gains in terms of the salary offered by major companies. Glassdoor suggests that the average base salary of a workflow automation specialist in the U.S. is $81,335 per year, while that of a data analyst is just $69,517 per year.
3. Higher Job Satisfaction
A full 71% of employees expect their work organizations to provide them with the same level of service using technology that customers’ products provide. Organizations can introduce low-code/no-code applications within the organization to increase the level of employee satisfaction.
Low-code/no-code skills are becoming highly coveted in the current competitive job market. Offering benefits to both employees and organizations, low-code app development is the key to digital transformation.
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