The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector is a crucial part of India's economy. Lately, it has been changing rapidly, using advanced technologies like AI, Blockchain, and IoT to provide services in new ways. This transformation means that companies need more tech-savvy employees, and there's a big demand for people with specialised tech skills. 

A report by Instahyre, an AI-driven platform for hiring reveals that there is a growing demand for tech experts who are skilled in Data Collection. Data Science has become very popular among tech professionals. Python is the most favoured programming language for people working in data science roles. It also observes that skills related to R (for Data Analytics) and Machine Learning are not as popular, especially for those who are new to the field or have more experience (0-1 years, 2-5 years, and 6-9 years). 

Since DevOps has gained huge popularity in recent years,  the report unveils that freshers of 0 to 1 years of experience prefer to master AWS skills as it helps them command higher salaries. However, for candidates at different levels exceeding 2+ years of experience, Jenkins dominates DevOps. Next, CI-CD and Virtualization are the least popular skills for 0 to 5 and 6 to 10+ years of experienced talent.  

Since BFSI is continuing to move on a digital transformation spree, the significant demand for IT security professionals is also mushrooming at an unprecedented pace. As there is an exponential rise in sophisticated cyber-attacks, freshers talent and leaders with 10+ years are more inclined towards cybersecurity skills while mid-level executives prefer to acquire a job role in security testing functions.  

Apart from this, the Instahyre report suggests that Endpoint Security and Application Security have emerged as slightly lesser popular skills in the IT security segment across all four experience levels. 

Commenting about the stats Sarbojit Mallick, co-founder of Instahyre said, “Quite evidently, a common trend is apparent across functions and levels – new skills are more popular among freshers. This is due to the fact that leadership levels started their career with legacy skills. This directly affects the availability of candidates as well as the leeway for recruiters in negotiating salary and benefits packages. Organisations are also focusing on high-demand skills to remain proactively competitive.” 

The report underlines that there's a bit more balance between males and females compared to the broader tech talent pool in India. Some tech skills have more gender diversity than others. For example, CCNA has the widest gender gap, meaning it's more male-dominated, while Quality Assurance has a narrower gender gap. 

To help BFSI recruiters and HR leaders promote gender equality in tech roles, the report has identified the gender gaps for each of the 66 skills in 10 job functions covered in the state of BFSI Tech Talent Report for 2023. Transformation is being seen in tech skills in data science, big data, DevOps, and IT security, the report added.