19 Most In Demand Tech Skills for 2020 and Where to Learn Them

The Dot com bubble didn’t burst, it exploded. Since the 1990s tech industry is experiencing an explosive growth. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of software and other tech jobs in the country as of 2018 is 1.36M and is expected to grow by 21% from 2018–2028. So, is this demand met by the supply? In fact not. Currently, the US software job market faces a 472K tech talent shortage with 9 in 10 business owners struggling to find a software professional.

The overwhelming demand for programmers has resulted in the growth of salaries in the tech sector and has also transformed IT into the best-compensated sector for the year 2019. The median salary for a programmer in the United States is more than $100K per year.

Unable to fill tech vacancies, employers shuffle off additional duties to current employees needing the programmers to be equipped with multiple skills. So let’s check the most in demand tech skills for the year 2020.

1. SQL

SQL has always been a must-have skill for programmers. 21.9% of all the tech jobs listed in Indeed has SQL listed as a required skill. SQL or Sequential Query Language is used to communicate with the database. It helps in database operations like creating, updating, reading and deleting data . The explosion of data science jobs have also contributed to the demand for SQL.

2. Java

Java is one of the most used programming languages and 20.8% of all jobs in Indeed have Java in their required skill set. If you want to see where Java is used, you are not too far away. All your android applications are written in Java. A couple of years back Android has provided a much-needed boost and today many Java programmers are Android App developers. Java is also used in Web Applications, software, Embedded systems, Big Data and many more.

3. Python

Python jumped 12 positions up, from 15 in 2014 to 3 in 2020. This incredible growth of 123% is contributed by the disproportionate use of Python in data science and data engineering. Python back-end frameworks like Django and Flask are also gaining popularity. Tech giants like Netflix are using Python for everything from operations management and analysis through to security and networking. Python is a highly adaptable language. Python was also the language Google App Engine was originally designed for.

4. Linux

Linux commonly gets associated with the popular LAMP application stack. Today, Linux systems are used throughout in computing, from embedded systems to virtually all supercomputers. With the availability of cloud computing, the Linux market shares are skyrocketing. Another reason for the popularity of Linux is because it is open source.

5. JavaScript

JavaScript is an essential web technology along with HTML and CSS, as almost all the web browsers implement JavaScript. If you want to get into web development JavaScript is a must learn. With the improvement in the performance of progressive web apps and the increasing popularity of frameworks like React native JavaScript is getting into app development and game development.

6. AWS

Cloud computing is taking the tech world by storm and so is the need to learn cloud computing. AWS helps you build and validate your cloud skills so you can get more out of the cloud. AWS popularity increased by 418% from 2014–2019. Growth in demand for AWS skills strongly signals the ever-greater importance of cloud computing platforms and services.

7. C++

C++ is used everywhere especially in systems programming and embedded systems. With its long history starting from 1998 C++ stands at position 7.

8. C

Like its cousin C++, C is also used in systems programming and embedded systems. It is also used in development of Desktop applications. Most of the applications by Adobe are developed in C.

9. C#

C# is used mainly to develop Desktop applications. It was invented by Microsoft and is widely used for developing Windows applications.

10. . NET

. NET framework pronounced as Dot Net can work with several programming languages such as C#, VB.NET Shop, C++ and F#. Although used by many . net’s popularity has considerably reduced by 15% from 2014–2019.

11. Oracle

Oracle cloud, though in 11th position has lost its popularity by 38% from 2014–2019. This decrease in popularity is mostly due to the penetration of other cloud services like AWS, Azure and Google cloud into the cloud market.

12. HTML

HTML has always been popular. HTML and CSS are the basic programming languages for web development and design. Of all the tech jobs in Indeed 8.1% requires the knowledge of HTML as of 2019.

13. SCRUM

Scrum is a process framework for addressing complex, adaptive problems with increased productivity. The popularity of scrum is scrum itself. It is simple, straightforward, easy to implement and highly effective. Popularity of scrum increased 64% from 2014–2019.

14. Git

Git is version control system. Git helps in managing versions. Git also makes collaboration easier, allowing changes by multiple people to all be merged into one source. Popularity of scrum increased by a whooping 148% from 2014–2019.

15. CSS

CSS along with HTML are basic programming one should know for web development and design. Of all the tech jobs in Indeed 7.3% requires the knowledge of CSS as of 2019.

16. Machine Learning

Machine Learning is in high demand in the industry today. With a Machine Learning certification, you can earn nearly $140K. Companies around the world are trying to implement Machine Learning in Business Analytics, Data Analytics, Recommendation Systems, Optimization, AI and everywhere. The popularity of machine learning has increase 439% from 2014–2019.

17. Azure

Azure cloud solution hit the market hard with an eye-popping 1107% increase in popularity from 2014–2019. It shares the market with AWS, Google cloud and Oracle.

18. Unix

Unix has reduced its popularity by 33% from 2014–2019.

19. Docker

Docker, and the containers it makes possible, has revolutionized the software industry and in five short years their popularity as a tool and platform has skyrocketed. With the increased use of micro-service architecture in tech industry Docker had an increase in popularity of 4162% from 2014–2019.