Project Management Institute (PMI), the world's leading association for project, program, and portfolio management, has recently released its latest report on the Global Project Management Job Trends 2024. The report highlights how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a major catalyst for change, transforming the way people perceive jobs and careers, and how project professionals can enhance their careers and purchasing power by identifying talent gaps and determining which skills are most in demand.

The report illustrates how innovation and digitalization are opening up vast career opportunities for professionals, particularly the educated younger generation, to continuously develop their skills. In various sectors, Information Technology (IT) plays a key role in ongoing industrial transformations. In Indonesia, for example, this is evident in automotive manufacturers' commitment to increasing electric vehicle (EV) production in line with government regulations. Therefore, stakeholders need to enhance workforce learning and skills to meet current industry needs.

Interestingly, amidst efforts to enhance workforce competitiveness, professionals are increasingly exposed to the crucial role of AI in the modern work landscape. Compared to their counterparts worldwide, employees in the Asia Pacific region believe that AI and human collaboration can provide greater career benefits. The Global Project Management Job Trends 2024 report notes that 33% of the global workforce has already used AI to support their work. Meanwhile, there are several other noteworthy findings from the report regarding the importance of enhancing workforce skills, especially in the Asia Pacific region, to expand their professional career opportunities in the digital era. Some global findings on how AI is transforming the global workforce include:

82% of senior leaders believe that AI adoption will affect how projects are run in their companies in the next five years. Survey results reinforce this optimism, with 91% of respondents believing that AI will have a significant impact on the project management profession. Demand for skilled workers who can leverage AI is increasing significantly. One example is a 2,000% surge in job postings referring to generative AI mastery skills from March to September 2023. There is still a considerable gap in the AI adoption learning curve, with companies offering AI-related technology benefits to only 13% of employees. However, a similar report reveals that 21% of professionals admit to always or often using AI to improve the efficiency of their project work. This is because AI adoption can be key to aligning and transforming project execution at the managerial level. Ultimately, the workforce is challenged to remain relevant by enhancing AI usage skills to achieve broader job opportunities. Consistent with the findings of this study, the Ministry of Manpower of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemnaker RI) also encourages the workforce to continuously improve skills and engage in relearning to enhance sensitivity and skills in facing AI technological developments.

"Indonesia has a growing young population. With 70.72% of the population in the productive age group (15 to 64 years old), Indonesia enjoys a demographic bonus. Many young professionals see project management skills as key to career growth. They undergo training to enhance competitiveness in the job market. PMI is committed to empowering them with certifications, tools, and support alongside stakeholders for long-term career development," concluded SoHyun Kang, PMI Regional Director, PMI Asia Pacific.

PMI in Indonesia has over 2,800 Active PMI Members and over 3,200 Active Certification Holders. PMI Indonesia also has over 1,000 members and works to bring together the project management community, as well as having active chapters related to project management. Further information about the Global Project Management Job Trends report is available here.