The global labor market continues its steady shift to the digital space, and this trend is expected in the years ahead especially with technology advancements remaining unabated. The top five jobs experiencing increasing demand are all digital-based, according to a 2020 ranking by the World Economic Forum, with digital analysts and scientists leading the list. Approximately 149 million new jobs will be generated within the digital space by 2025, estimated Microsoft.
These statistics point to the growing need for the current workforce to acquire or hone digital skills in order to benefit from emerging job opportunities.
Coursera, one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, believes upskilling will play a crucial role in enabling today’s labor force to successfully adapt to – and thrive in -- the increasingly digital world.
In a press briefing, Raghav Gupta, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Coursera, said “Business needs are constantly evolving in today’s work landscape, and employees are expected to acquire new skills at an increasingly rapid pace to perform effectively in their roles. Organizations therefore need to pivot to offer their employees L&D solutions that naturally align to their learning habits.”
The platform, which has more than 102 million registered learners globally, 1.5 million of whom are Filipinos, offers various tools and programs aimed at providing accessible and effective learning experiences to its users.
“For many of the companies, governments and campuses we work with, they’re very interested in getting their employees, citizens and students ready for Industry 4.0. We have curated content for them to meet this need,” Gupta said further.
Aside from courses, certificates and degrees from renowned institutions, Coursera offers features targeted at specific needs and skills. These features include SkillSets, which helps learners develop specific skills for specific job roles, and Academies, which helps learners uplevel and learn advanced skills.
Coursera also recently launched Clips, which offers more than 10,000 bite-sized videos and lessons from the world’s leading companies and universities, discussing topics across business, tech, data, leadership and human skills.
Coursera also continues to work toward democratizing learner access. To date, Coursera has supported approximately 75,000 enrollments with financial aid. The Philippines accounts for the second-largest share of financial aid awarded by Coursera to learners in Southeast Asia.