Shelf-life of skills now only 2-3 years, says NASSCOM Chairman

Bengaluru: Chairman of IT-BPM industry body NASSCOM, U B Pravin Rao, said on Sunday that the shelf-life of skills is now only two to three years as he stressed the need for continuous, lifelong learning.

As corporates are reinventing themselves, individuals also need to reinvent themselves to stay relevant, said the Chief Operating Officer of Bengaluru-headquartered IT major, Infosys Ltd.

“Shelf-life of skills is becoming short, 2-3 years”, said Rao, who was the chief guest at an online graduation ceremony for approximately 2,800 learners, hosted by online higher education company, upGrad in partnership with ‘The International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore’ (IIIT-B).

Machines and algorithms in the workplace are expected to create 133 million new roles, a joint statement quoted him as saying.

“People need to unlearn, learn new stuff and therefore commit to lifelong learning. This is critical to stay relevant and employable,” Rao said, according to the statement.

upGrad and IIIT-B, the statement said, celebrated the successful completion of PG Diploma programs in Data Science, Machine Learning (ML) & Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Software Development/Blockchain, respectively.

These graduates included working professionals with a range of 8-11 years of work experience, from organisations, including Fortune 500 companies, it said.