Here at Toucan, our core mission is to democratize data within companies and public organizations. We firmly believe that granting all users easy access to data can make everyone more efficient. But we know that oftentimes, you still need highly specialized technical skills to understand this data.
So we looked into the way digital professionals rate their employability in relation to these skills: we’ve teamed up with the BDM and surveyed 622 French experts in marketing, communication, project management, development, design and growth about their skills, their tools, and the skills these tools require. Here is what we’ve learned.
You can see the full study here (in French)
SKILLS: 70% OF DIGITAL PROFESSIONALS THINK THEIR SKILLS WILL SOON BE OUTDATED
Everything moves very fast on the Internet. The same is true for the skills of the professionals who work in the field. 70% of them think that it is likely that their skills will become outdated in the years to come! A quarter of them even think this would be very likely. And we’re not talking about the distant future: 59% of respondents think this will happen in less than 5 years.
To keep this from happening, three quarters of the professionals we surveyed rely on continuous training, even if 44% of them consider this constant need for refresher courses to be a source of stress… Which would push 40% out of the sector altogether!
TOOLS, WHETHER SAAS OR ON-PREMISE, ARE IMPORTANT TO 98% OF PROFESSIONALS
Regardless of their type (software, applications, etc.), the tools used by industry professionals are omnipresent in their daily lives. 98% of them give them an important place, and the majority of them (57%) use between 5 and 10 of them regularly. SaaS tools are the most popular with 58% of users, ahead of On-Premise software (38%). It is difficult to imagine working without them: for 62% of the professionals surveyed, mastering specific tools is very important for their employability.
Tech professionals are generally in control of their choice of tools. 34% choose them completely, 52% partially, and only 14% have them imposed on their work environment. 59% of them regularly test new tools to better equip themselves. Three criteria are particularly important: the range of functions offered (78%), ease of use (71%) and cost (66%).
DATA IS CRUCIAL FOR 93% OF THE PROFESSIONALS SURVEYED, BUT THEY OFTEN DO NOT HAVE THE TOOLS TO MAKE IT INTELLIGIBLE
Unsurprisingly, digital professionals agree on the importance of data in their business. It is their raw material: they collect it, interpret it, exploit it and process it in more than 50% of cases! Almost all of them (93%) believe that this expertise is important for their employability.
More surprisingly, nearly one in two (45%) believe they do not have simple enough tools to manage data, while 57% do not have access to tools that allow them to make this data sufficiently intelligible for all the employees who might need it. Will this problem soon be a thing of the past? For Baptiste Jourdan, co-founder of Toucan Toco: “Data storytelling allows everyone to take full advantage of the tools that manage data, so that every collaborator has access to usable information. In short, tools that are easier to use would facilitate the employability of digital professionals.”