The Skills Pyramid
I updated this article on Aug 24-2024 to reflect the changes happening with the Skills Economy. I used a bold font to show additions
It was originally written for my column for The Economic Times dated Aug 5-2014 (see below)
I looked at the puzzled expressions on the faces of the 200 MBAs we had hired from the campus. This was day one at work. I was going to talk to them about “reinventing careers”. Isn’t it too early to think about reinvention on the first day at work, they ask me? Careers are not built on aspirations. Not anymore. They are built around the portfolio of skills we have.
The skills economy represents a shift where individual skills, rather than traditional job credentials, are the primary currency of work. This transformation is driven by the rapid pace of technological change and the global skills shortage. In this dynamic environment, the half-life of a skill—the time it takes for a skill to become half as valuable—has dropped to about five years. This means that continuous learning and reskilling are essential for staying relevant in the workforce. Careers get shaped by the skills we bring to the marketplace.
As Ashok Ghosh, who works as a cybersecurity expert for Microsoft told me how coding has changed. From writing the full code, the developer had to learn to pull code from a library. Today the developer has to work with AI that can write code. He shared this post where the Amazon Web Services CEO talked of a future where “most developers are not coding”. That is a perfect proof of the dropping half life of a skill.
I wrote this article for HBR https://hbr.org/2023/10/help-your-employees-develop-the-skills-they-really-need
“If you go forward 24 months from now, or some amount of time — I can’t exactly predict where it is — it’s possible that most developers are not coding,”
COMMODITY SKILLS
Think of all the skills you have as represented by a pyramid. At the base of the pyramid, we have skills that can be termed as Commodity Skills. These are skills you possess but cannot put them in your resume. Like what? Telling people that you know how to use a mobile phone… OK on a serious note, there was a time when people would proudly mention that they were proficient in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Today we simply expect people to have these skills.
Having them is not an advantage. But not having them can be a limitation. You certainly never list them on your resume. Finally, the commodity skills don’t need you to go to a certified instructor. They are skills we pick up through informal sources of learning. Over time the commodity skills cease to matter and are replaced by Marketable Skills.
Educational institutes are unable to keep pace with the changes in the world of work. So the fresh graduates are disappointing employers because their skill gaps are getting worse every year.
MARKETABLE SKILLS
A Marketable skill is one where you can get a certification or get a Accountants have to learn how to balance books. Project managers have to learn how to steer complex projects towards completion. These are the skills that we acquire through formal education and certification. When people attend vocational classes or go to college they are looking to acquire mainstream skills. There are many providers of these mainstream skills. There is a definitive structured way to learn these skills. Most people’s careers are built on the basis of the mainstream skills. When employers write a job description they are looking for these skills as the core of what the candidate will be expected to do. Proficiency in mainstream skills is an advantage over peers. Doctors and surgeons build their professional skills through an apprenticeship with more experienced doctors and surgeons.
Every skill that is being taught formally resulting in a degree/diploma or certificate is a Marketable skill. Think of that as a warning sign. It takes very little time for a Marketable skill to become a Commoditized skill. People will expect you to have the skill but will not offer you a job because you have the skill.
Over time the Marketable Skills do not provide a differentiator. That comes from the Niche Skills.
NICHE SKILLS
Swift is Apple’s new programming language, which has been in development for the past four years and is all set to replace Objective-C as the main language for app development on Apple’s platforms, OSX and iOS. How will people learn this new language? Apple has published a guide that will serve as a starting point for others to start. Through trial and error, early enthusiasts will sharpen their skills and will start releasing “how to” videos and blog posts. Learning a niche skill is not always as organized and structured. Yet, in a fast changing world, the people with niche skills have a distinct advantage. But not every one of the 9 million registered Apple developers will reskill themselves and learn the new language on their own. Some will wait for more structured instructions and courses to be developed before they can learn and some will never make the transition at all.
(Update: Apple gives free App Development curriculum to schools in May 2017. So in three years the skill moved from Niche to Marketable)
Disrupting the Pyramid
The skills pyramid is never static. As technology changes, regulations evolve, some of the commodity skills become obsolete and irrelevant. What was once considered to be a marketable becomes commoditized very soon. Yesterday’s niche skills are today’s marketable skills and tomorrow’s commodity skills. Technology is a disruptor in the skills market. Think of the number of professions that have been disrupted by the mobile phone. Every new product or service that is launched creates another shuffle of the skills pyramid and renders some marketable skills obsolete or at best commoditized where it is impossible to get paid for having those skills.Being able to learn new skills constantly is an important element of success in today’s world. This is not a skill most people have been used to building.
Written for The Economic Times dated 5th August 2014
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