If the recent tech layoffs have painted a bleak picture of the future of tech talent, let me tell you something — a sea of opportunities is waiting for you in places where you have never looked before — because “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity,” as Einstein rightly said.

The disruption that digitization has caused in the job landscape compelled even traditionally non-tech industries and organizations to expand their reach in recruiting tech talent. The result? A 50 to 60% increase in demand for tech talent between 2020 to 2022.

But what is driving tech hiring in non-tech organizations? And what type of tech-related job opportunities are available?

As organizations are increasingly looking towards technological innovations to seamlessly deliver their products and solutions to customers, the need for tech talent is escalating too. For example, eyewear platform lenkart.com has taken to digital like no other competitor brand, to allow customers to try and book their prescription eye-glasses from the comfort of their homes using 3D Try-on technology. Traditionally offline-heavy industries like automobile are moving in this direction too. Mercedes-Benz India launched a D2C digital platform in early-2022 that allows customers to engage and complete their car purchase online and sold 3,000 cars within a span of just four months.

Organizations are increasingly leveraging the power of data analytics to gain insights into their customers’ preferences, needs, behaviors, and interests. As a result, the Indian market has seen a rise of jobs in data analytics and data science by almost 50 per cent in the last 12-18 months. Half of this demand is coming from the non-tech organizations such as Retail, Logistics, BFSI, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, etc. In fact, data scientists are also in huge demand in media and entertainment as India’s OTT market is set to increase at an annual rate of 23.3% in 2023.

The adoption of AI has been massive since the pandemic, especially in finance and retail. In 2022, 57% of the organizations reported using AI to optimize their business processes and customer experience. Companies like Amazon and Starbucks are using AI to engage more deeply with customers by offering dynamic pricing, personalized shopping lists, and better promotional offers.

As technology continues to reshape the global economy, traditional companies are increasingly hiring professionals in areas such as Product Engineering, Digitalization, Data Sciences and AI. Tech companies tend to have more service-oriented roles, while product or conventional non-tech organizations typically offer high-end technology roles like Product Development, R&D and AI.

We at Taggd have seen a significant shift in talent mix hired in favour of tech talent in last 3 years. This will gain more momentum in years to come. In 2021 and 2022 alone, Taggd hired 6000+ tech personnel for non-tech companies, including Mahindra, Honeywell, SKF, Bosch, Tata Motors, and Schindler, to name a few.

Traditional manufacturing and engineering organizations are shifting from being industrial-engineering to becoming industrial-software companies. This shift will require a high level of software competency to build, operate, and maintain complex systems. To put this in a numerical perspective, the Pharmaceutical sector is recruiting digital experts, developers, and data scientists in R&D, the hiring percentage of which was almost 5% in 2022 alone. As organisations allocate more budget for product development, companies are open to investing heavily in hiring talent to incubate,  research, and design future products.

With expertise in machine learning, big data, predictive analytics and other cutting-edge technologies, tech talent can develop products that meet customer needs while researching and developing solutions for the future such as digital twins, advanced robotics, blockchain technology, virtual reality, and more.

Customer needs often go beyond physical products, which is why tech talent is necessary in developing digital solutions that can meet those needs, including virtual assistant solutions, e-commerce platforms, web applications or other technologies designed to make life easier for customers. For instance, many FMCG brands such as Dabur and Emami are experiencing a massive pull factor for their products and are investing considerably in building their digital capacities to meet this demand.

So, if you have technical skills and want to pursue a career in a non-tech industry, now is an opportune time. All you need to do is have faith in your skills and muster the courage to take that one extra step to explore these opportunities.

Pankaj Bansal is the Co- founder of Taggd and Work Universe (a Fund investing in jobs and work tech). He is a non-executive director at Karmayogi Bharat (Capacity building or Civil Servants) and many other startups.