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Arts & Humanities
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Business & Economics
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Education and Pedagogy
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Social Sciences

Study on Usage of New Technologies by Enterprises and Their Subsequent Skills Needs

Authors

By 
Ravisha Subramanyan
Ravisha Subramanyan, Research and Projects Division, Human Resource Development Council

Ravisha Subramanyan is currently a Research and Development Officer at the Human Resource Development Council. She provides assistance in the mounting and implementation of skills development projects. Prior to assuming her current position in March 2018, she worked as a Management Support Officer at the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development. She holds a Master’s degree in International Business Management from Kingston University (UK) and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with Management from the University of Mauritius.

, 
Harris Neeliah
Harris Neeliah, Research and Projects Division, Human Resource Development Council

Harris Neeliah joined the Human Resource Development Council in February 2013. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics and a Masters in Agricultural Development Economics, both from the University of Reading, UK. Current professional development revolves around innovation, innovation management and strategy. Dr. Neeliah currently heads the Research and Projects Division at the HRDC. He was previously a Research Coordinator at the then Mauritius Research Council (2006 to 2013). From 2005 to 2006 he consulted on applied development economics projects for both local and international clients. From 2004 to 2005, he was employed as Marketing Manager at the Agricultural Marketing Board. He has also extensively lectured both in the UK and Mauritius, principally in applied economics, quantitative techniques and research methods. His research interests cover economic development, skills development, strategy and innovation.

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Premlata Kooshmi Ramtohul
Premlata Kooshmi Ramtohul, Research and Projects Division, Human Resource Development Council

Premlata Kooshmi RAMTOHUL joined the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) in 2007 as a Senior Research and Development Officer. She holds a first degree in Statistics from the University of Pune, India, an MBA from the University of Mauritius, and a Vocational Graduate Certificate in Management (Learning) from Chisholm Institute, Australia. Ms Ramtohul was previously a Technical Officer at the National Computer Board (NCB) and an Accreditation Officer, formerly Programme Officer, at the Mauritius Qualifications Authority (MQA). During her career, she has been highly engaged in research and development projects related to policy, education, and skills development. Email: pramtohul@hrdc.intnet.mu

STAR SCHOLARS PRESS
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32674/6b6k3192

Published

Publication date : March 17, 2024

Synopsis

The study sought to understand the impact of new disruptive technologies on employment and the ways in which skills could be a constraint on their take-up, the types of jobs that may be affected or the specific skill needs that may arise. A qualitative methodology was adopted, and a purposive survey was conducted among enterprises with 10 or more employees. A structured online questionnaire was used to collect data between March and May 2021. The study revealed that out of 114 enterprises that responded to the survey, approximately half were not using any new technologies. Of them, approximately one-third reported that they were unlikely to use new technologies in the future. Of those who were using new technologies, 43% were using them to a great extent and 57% to a moderate extent. To be able to use the new technologies, machine learning, in-depth statistics, data analytics, AI and AI-related application programming were reported to be very useful. The need for a continuous flow of university graduates to take up jobs (ranked by degree of importance) was felt for posts such as Software Developer, Java Programmer, Robotic Process Automation Developer, Cloud System Administrator, and Business Intelligence Developer. However, the firms appeared to be grappling with a lack of broad-based expertise in research and application of AI, persistent lack of local training capabilities in specialized areas, high resource cost and low awareness of the potential of AI at the enterprise level, limited capacity of local universities and lack of skills among existing staff in their technology adoption journey.

Copyright

Copyright (c) 2024 STAR SCHOLARS PRESS