Almost everything stood still in 2020, except for one thing – job loss. However, 2021 is bringing some good news. Jobs are back and even people are actively looking for a new job this year. A LinkedIn survey also reports that a new job seeker research to discuss how job seekers in India are overcoming challenges of finding a job today, and how they are leaning on their communities to find new career opportunities in 2021.

The survey was based on 1,016 responses, and shows that more than three in four professionals will consider changing jobs or actively look for a new role in the next 12 months.

However, the market will continue to become more competitive this year. New skills, new traits and new learnings will ensure one gets the job s/he is looking for. LinkedIn survey revealed that one-third of job seekers in India are worried about too many recruitment stages (38 percent) and extensively long application documents (32 percent), while three in four (74 percent) professionals say they have reservations about networking.

Despite this uncertainty, India remains resilient towards career growth as two in three (64 percent) professionals surveyed are confident about their future progression while two in five think attending networking events (38 percent) and investing in online learning (37 percent) will be critical to landing a job in 2021.

To help job seekers navigate through the tough terrains, LinkedIn has launched the 2021 ‘Jobs on the Rise’ India list with the aim to empower professionals with critical insights about the dynamic jobs landscape, especially those who may have lost their jobs during the pandemic. The list features 15 fastest growing career opportunities that have seen the highest year-on-year growth rates in hiring based on LinkedIn data for the time frame of April to October 2020. The 15 trends capture 25 job titles within each category, and they are freelance content creators, social media and digital marketing roles, marketing roles, business development and sales roles, specialized engineering roles, finance roles, education roles, AI roles, e-Commerce roles, data science roles, healthcare roles, human resource roles, user experience designer roles, and customer service roles.

Ruchee Anand, Director - Talent & Learning Solutions, India at LinkedIn commented, ”This year’s Jobs on the Rise India list is a reflection of how the work ecosystem and the jobs market rapidly changed in 2020. Digital transformation has continued to drive all industries, and both, tech and non-tech roles have shifted to meet the needs of a new collaborative, remote work culture. The List shows us that audience builders and content creators are key to brands, HR continues to be at the heart of all operations, user and customer experience are critical in the new online world of service, and emerging tech, especially ed-tech, continues to boom.”

So what makes the above mentioned 15 trends so hot in 2021? The answer lies in the past one year that pushed into a whole new ecosystem that functions online. Today online is the place to be. Employees have started working virtually, brands have started engaging with audiences online. We have also read if not witnessed, several cyberattacks and cybersecurity failures. Companies lost billion to hackers, and hence cybersecurity and data science roles will continue to rise as security data and privacy are two top priorities of any company that has a digital presence in any form.

On the other hand, most solutions and services have adopte tech, thanks to disruption the pandemic brought in. From education to healthcare to finance, everything has moved digital, and hence professionals who can pivot to digital-based operations smoothly will be particularly sought after. On the other hand, as customers move to the digital route, offering them seamless user experience will also be among the top priority list. Hence designers and customer service roles will be highly in demand.

But what will keep up the hope of several professionals looking for change, alive is constant learning. The rise of tech means all talent now needs to master basic digital skills to stay ahead of the game. Hence online learning and being a learner for life is the mantra to success.