By Kevin Mills, Vice President, Coursera for Government
Today’s employers are tasked with filling vast amounts of roles within their companies. However, Europe’s Digital Economy and Society Index reports that nearly 60% of employers say they are struggling to find the right people to fill available jobs. Meanwhile, 75% of workers surveyed by Salesforce in 2022 admitted they did not think they had the right skills for a digital-first world.
Furthermore, many workers now find themselves in roles that are increasingly vulnerable to shifts in the labor market, a situation that threatens to increase inequality and poverty globally.
We’ve seen first-hand at Coursera how workforce development leaders worldwide are developing reskilling programs that deliver digital skills training, prepare workers for in-demand roles, and provide opportunities to underprivileged or marginalized groups.
For instance, in 2021, Barbados partnered with Coursera to launch the National Transformation Initiative (NTI), which helped to upskill thousands of citizens through online training—and provided 20,000 scholarships for Barbadian women, many of whom did not have a degree.
Building on the lessons we’ve learned from partnerships with organizations like NTI and insights surfaced from our recent Global Skills Report 2022, I’m excited to announce the launch of The Great Reskilling: How to Accelerate Economic Growth with Digital Skills.
In this new e-book, we explore how digital skills training can be an effective way for workforce development leaders to make their communities more attractive to employers and to change the lives of their community members for the better.
Digital skills have never been more in demand. Microsoft estimates up to 149 million new technology-related jobs could appear by 2025 in fields such as advanced IT, computer programming, and scientific research and development. By learning digital skills now, workers can access jobs in different fields with better pay and prospects, participate in the global digital economy, and potentially reduce the risk of their jobs becoming automated by as much as 59%.
In this e-book, workforce development leaders will discover:
- How digital skills training can address inequality and unlock the full potential of job seekers’ existing skillsets
- How to prepare job seekers for entry-level, in-demand digital roles that pay more and offer more opportunities for advancement and personal growth
- How to build impactful reskilling strategies that are driven by data on regional and global learning trends
Looked at together, the stories and experiences in this e-book can serve as a helpful resource for workforce development leaders as they continue to provide their constituents with the skills needed for the labor markets of today and tomorrow.