A recent study reveals that both individual and corporate learners — 67.5 per cent of the 5,000 surveyed —believe that learning is the key to bagging better employment opportunities. 19.4 per cent of those surveyed were freshers, while 51.3 per cent were mid-level professionals and 29.2 per cent were senior-level professionals.
The report titled ‘IT Skills Training Trends: 2020 and 2021’ published by Simplilearn — Online Bootcamp for digital economy skills training — the also reveals that 14 per cent of those surveyed had lost their jobs (mostly in the manufacturing and finance sector), while 41 per cent were mid-career professionals who felt they had stagnated in their careers. About 25 per cent of the employees in large organisations — mostly consulting, finance, healthcare and pharma firms — felt they were stuck in their jobs,
About see learning as the key to landing better opportunities and plan to start learning programs in 2021
Simplilearn, the world’s number one Online Bootcamp for digital economy skills training, published the findings of its annual survey report titled ‘IT Skills Training Trends: 2020 and 2021’. The survey was conducted to understand how 2020 has affected work environments and what are aspirants doing to prepare for the various eventualities that they foresee in 2021. More than 5,000 Simplilearn learners, comprising both individual and corporate learners, participated in the survey.. A majority of the respondents were from the IT sector, followed by manufacturing, consulting and finance.
However, due to the pandemic, one positive effect has been that professionals are open to upskilling. With the work landscape undergoing changes, more professionals plan to go for upskilling in 2021. About 35 per cent of the respondents saw the pandemic as an opportunity to learn new skills. About 49.5 per cent of employees in small and medium enterprises did the same. Realisation has also dawned that only by learning new skills can professionals hope to stay relevant and hold on to their jobs. About 4 per cent of those surveyed feel that keeping their jobs depends on learning new skills, while 66 per cent are already either taking a course or plan to do so in 2021.
The year 2021 will see a rise in demand for technology professionals. About 54.3 per cent professionals expect upskilling to provide better job opportunities or better pay hikes and promotions. About 20 per cent feel that upskilling can help secure their jobs and careers, while 28.5 per cent believe that upskilling will open up new careers and allow them to follow their passion.
About 71 per cent of the respondents believe that the best way to start learning a skill today is to either join paid online course or take the free self-learning online courses. Interestingly, about 72.8 per cent of professionals are either exploring what they want to study in 2021 or have a definite plan to enroll in an online certification programme. Programmes in digital operations were the most in demand and popular, followed by technology, and data and AI. While data science and AI/ML programmes were popular with mid-career (31-40 year old) learners, digital business was popular with both young (under 25) and senior-level (over 50) learners. Digital operations programmes were popular with early-career (30 year old and younger) learners, and technology with early-career (30 year old and younger) learners.
Most learners used the mobile app for learning programmes instead of a desktop.
It was learned that a majority of the respondents prefer the Bootcamp learning model of applied learning aligned with industry requirements. About 75 per cent of the professionals prefer programmes that focus on applied learning, along with projects and practice labs coupled with industry partnerships and accreditations
Krishna Kumar, founder and CEO, Simplilearn reveals witnessing, “a 60 per cent jump in enrollments in the early days of lockdown itself. In fact, usage on the platform has doubled compared to pre-pandemic times. Another factor which contributed to this was career uncertainty and job losses, which made it clear to many professionals that digital skills are key to career stability and growth.” He highlighted the fact that due to the pandemic, organisations came to realise that “online learning plays an important role in employee engagement in an ever growing virtual ecosystem.”
Not surprisingly, over the last 6 months, Simplilearn has on boarded over 50,000 corporate learners across 12 countries, led by India, the US, Thailand and Oman.
