It is oft repeated that the next wave of IT is automation. But automation is not new - it existed before in terms of automated installation, sending birthday mails etc.
It was not untill you actually work in large IT Infrastructure that you realise what is running in the background. The chances of working on Unix / Linux servers in telecom, manufacture or banking is very high. And most of the routine tasks including installation and upgrade would be automated. You touch the shell scripting at this stage - directly or indirectly.
The shell scripts are often confused with shell commands. That should not be the case.
Shell commands forms the basis of the scripts. But as with other programming languages, shell scripts also have advanced concepts.
Also, there are no alternate to shell scripts if you want to have something automated in boot / console mode of unix / linux systems.
Hence, sufficient knowledge of shells and related scripts is must for any system administrator to become a 'Pro' - now and in future.