New Delhi, Jul 19 (IANS): Amid a nearly seven per cent per cent decline in number of jobs posted in the first quarter of this year compared to a year ago due to the Covid-19 pandemic, demand has gone up significantly for certain roles such as IT designers, sales, and operations and change management, says a new report.

Employers have indicated a 500 per cent surge in requirement of communication and presentation skills in Q1 of this year, compared to last year, showed data from SCIKEY Talent Commerce Platform, a talent marketplace.

The major reason for this increase in communication skills is owing to virtual jobs during the coronavirus pandemic in India.

Another skill that has come to the forefront due to Covid-19 is change and implementation.

There has been a significant rise in skills including Javascript, Oracle, HTML and Node in Q1 2020.

"The Covid-19 led business uncertainty has impacted the hiring plans of many companies, at the same time there are certain sectors that are Covid-proof and are rapidly expanding their teams," Akshay Sharma, Co-founder, SCIKEY, said in a statement.

"This is also giving rise to new skill sets to manage the uncertainty and will quickly become the new normal. Upskilling and meeting the demand requirements of the job market will enable opening up of new jobs and roles."

The data is based on 233 jobs from the SCIKEY Talent Commerce Platform from IT, consultancy, e-commerce, real estate, telecom, renewable energies and marketing sectors from several states in the country.