Dive Brief:
- October saw high consumption of technical training content among users of learning platform Udemy Business, Udemy's corporate product, with U.S. users recording a 454% increase in consumption of Google Cloud Professional Developer certification content, and a 437% month-to-month increase of data engineering content, compared to September.
- Users in specific industries caused similar trends. Among manufacturing users, Oracle Certification courses saw 270% growth compared to September. In the retail sector, users recorded a 167% increase in consumption of Robotic Process Automation content, Udemy said.
- Udemy also tracked consumption trends of soft skills, which the company termed "power skills" to denote their importance to job performance. Among content in this category, global users recorded a 277% increase in consumption for passive income content, a 100% increase in conversation skills content and a 56% increase in habits content.
Dive Insight:
As much as employers may be worried about talent development over the long-term, recent research shows workers may be just as anxious. A Monster survey of employees published in August found more than half were concerned about the future of their work due to a potential skills gap, and 45% said they would be more likely to stay in their current roles if offered skills training.
That sentiment could match employers' plans. September survey results from The Harris Poll showed that most companies preferred to upskill current employees rather than hire new ones, particularly notable given the competitive state of the talent market. Sixty percent of decision-maker respondents in the survey said they planned to reskill employees by the end of this year. But other reports suggest a disconnect between workers and employers when it comes to the actual quality of training programs.
Udemy's focus on soft skills may be particularly pertinent to younger workers. Earlier this year, leaders in the workforce development space discussed the pitfalls both millennials and Generation Z members face during the pandemic which, among other things, has taken away opportunities to develop soft skills.
