As a STEM professional, you are probably aware of the current layoffs affecting the technology world. At the time of this writing, around 50,000 tech professionals suffered layoffs so far in 2024, according to Layoffs.fyi. This number reveals a slight increase over 2023, with new layoffs partially driven by the increased adoption of AI.
If you are worried about losing your STEM job to a chatbot, the important thing involves staying positive. The job market still favors tech professionals, despite the wide publicity of any job losses. Keeping your skills current and adding experience using AI tools increases your marketability. Let’s look at a few insights on thriving in the current market.
Regularly Learn New Skills to Stay in Demand
Many tech pundits feel AI serves more as a way to improve productivity as opposed to replacing human workers. Still, STEM professionals need to be proactive in learning new skills, especially in machine learning and artificial intelligence. For example, understanding how to train large language models used in generative AI remains a skill in high demand.
Having an employer with a culture focused on professional development helps when learning new skills. These companies typically boast strong training programs and offer tuition reimbursement as a benefit. If your current company fails to provide similar opportunities, consider finding a new job. Contact your recruiter to learn about intriguing open STEM positions.
What Skills Help Your STEM Career
Modern employers want to hire candidates with other technical in-demand skills. For example, data analytics helps businesses glean actionable information from their data. It plays a key role in fostering effective business decision-making. Companies that are strong in this area enjoy a significant competitive advantage over other firms in their industry.
Additionally, businesses regularly look for STEM professionals with cybersecurity skills. In fact, this need goes beyond having a SecOps-specific job title. Improving cybersecurity awareness requires all employees to at least possess some abilities in this area.
Earn an Advanced Degree
Earning an advanced degree in your discipline also improves your job security as a STEM professional. As noted earlier, companies focused on professional development provide tuition reimbursement to their employees. They also typically require anyone receiving tuition assistance to stay with the organization for a period of time. Simply put, you are less likely to be laid off when a company invests in your education.
When you need to find a new job, having an experienced recruiter on your side definitely helps!
As one of the top STEM staffing agencies in New Jersey, Alpha Consulting can help take your career to a higher level. Explore our open roles to get started today.
