The predicted “Great Resignation” is underway, with the US Labor Department reporting people quitting jobs in record numbers, with 4 million doing so in April alone. At the same time, companies are expected to step up hiring, with 77 percent of executives in a recent poll claiming they plan to hire more workers in the third quarter of 2021.

While the predictions of the extent of the Great Resignation differ, the companies that can upskill and reskill employees quickly will thrive. In a recent survey of 400 HR leaders by HR Dive and SAS, 88 percent said they believed employee development plans needed to change to reflect the skills gaps that organizations now face as a result of COVID.

It’s not just that organizations need different skills; the speed at which organizations need them is more urgent than ever before. Employees look for reasons to leave, and companies need to offer them the skills growth that will keep them around.

Amid this turnover turmoil, one thing remains true: the hottest skills remain data and analytics skills. This is particularly true for SAS skills, as last year nearly 178,000 job postings listed SAS as a desired skill, according to Emsi, an aggregator of labor market data.

Women, young people flocking to SAS skills

These skills are particularly appealing to women, who are historically underrepresented in data jobs. According to Certification Magazine, of the SAS certification holders that responded to the magazine’s Salary Survey:

• Two-thirds of the 2019 survey respondents featured were women — “a singular rarity in the male-dominated IT sphere.”
• The trend continued in 2021, where a remarkable 61 percent of respondents were women

Young people are also well-represented. Nearly half of survey respondents (47.1 percent) were between the ages of 25 and 34, or notably younger than is commonplace in IT.

This trend is also reflected in visitors to SAS web pages. In 2020, people age 25 – 34 years old comprised the largest percentage of visitors to the Learn SAS, SAS certification and exam preparation web pages, with approximately 40 percent being female.

Here's how to learn SAS, get certified and get your dream job

To help women, young people and all others learn SAS, get certified and seize rewarding job opportunities, SAS offers a wide variety of learning options, including many free programs. including:

• A SAS Learning Subscription offers e-learning, help from experts, digital badging and performance tracking to help people plot a path to successful certification. Register to get free access for 30 days.
• SAS OnDemand for Academics provides professors, students, researchers and independent learners free access to SAS software for teaching and learning.
• Free e-learning and video tutorials are available for a variety of analytics topics.
• The SAS Academy for Data Science online program offers credentials in big data and data science and provides learners experience with advanced analytics such as machine learning, forecasting and optimization. Register to get free access for 30 days.

For those interested in being SAS certified there are resources to get started, including practice exams, certification prep webinars and more.