A primary global workforce trend impacting IT leaders is the increasing demand for highly skilled professionals in specialized fields. As technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and data analytics become central to business strategy, the need for experts with deep technical knowledge in these domains has surged. This creates a highly competitive talent market, making recruitment, retention, and continuous upskilling of the IT workforce a critical challenge and strategic priority for IT leadership. This phenomenon is often referred to as the "digital skills gap," where the demand for specialized tech talent outpaces the available supply.

A. While the economy is service-oriented, this is too general. The specific challenge for IT leaders is the need for highly specialized technical skills, not just general service roles.

C. This is incorrect. Automation eliminates some routine tasks but simultaneously creates a greater demand for high-level technical roles to design, implement, and manage complex automation systems.

D. This is the opposite of the current trend. The rapid evolution of technology necessitates more specialized education, certifications, and continuous training to keep skills relevant and effective.

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1. Acemoglu

D.

& Autor

D. (2020). The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines. MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future. In the final report

it is noted that technological advancements are not uniformly deskilling; instead

they "complement and raise the demand for workers who can perform higher-level analytical

creative

and problem-solving tasks

" which directly aligns with the need for highly skilled professionals. (See Chapter 2

Section 2.3

"Technology and the Demand for Skill").

2. Benbya

H.

Pachidi

S.

& Jarvenpaa

S. (2021). Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence in Organizations: Implications for Information Systems Research. MIS Quarterly

45(1)

pp. iii-xiv. The introduction discusses how AI adoption creates "new roles and skill requirements

" emphasizing the need for specialists who can manage

interpret

and work alongside AI systems

reinforcing the trend toward specialized expertise.

3. Gallaugher

J. (2019). Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. In Chapter 13

"Information Security

" the text highlights the severe talent shortage in cybersecurity

stating

"And the cybersecurity field has a significant shortage of talent... demand for security specialists is growing much faster than the pool of skilled employees." This exemplifies the increasing demand in a specialized IT field. (Section 13.1

"Why Is This Stuff Important?").