20-25 per cent retail jobs would need new skills by 2022

The joint report by FICCI-Nasscom and EY on the nature of jobs pointed out that 95 per cent of industry experts believed that creation of highly optimised supply chains would drive growth in retail in the next five years. It also said that more than 76 per cent of the industry experts believe that rising middle-class and business innovation would drive growth in the sector.

“New business models such as e-commerce and mobile based e-retailing are increasingly becoming popular in India across tier I, II and III cities. The impact of this growth is already visible on the job market,” Anurag Malik, partner, people and organisation, Advisory Services, EY, said. “The e-commerce companies are creating new job profiles in logistics, warehousing, web and app design, system integration, customer service, big data and machine learning. Hence, the need is to acquire new skill set through training, learning and development, adopt technology and be market ready for the changing job roles in the retail sector,” he added.

The EY report, based on a survey, has identified 12 mega trends that would lead the way for future of jobs in 2022. These include topics like the level of Indian exports, rapid adoption of technologies in the advanced markets and its impact on off-shoring, the changes in the overseas job market for Indian workforce and the level of foreign investments, among others. 

It also stressed on the demand for a resourceful planet and sustainability, and under demographic changes, it cited increasing urbanisation, and the rise in middle-class, as well as a higher proportion of young population.