“To help address this growing need, our new GenAI Skills Pack provides professionals across software engineering, data science, sales, marketing, finance, and HR with dedicated learning paths so they can easily skill up on genAI content specific to their job functions for immediate impact.”
How has the tech employment industry shifted from requiring computer science degrees to taking more of a skills-based approach to hiring and why? “Companies have long regarded practical skills, experience, and industry certifications as key factors in hiring decisions. With the rise of the skills-based organization focus, more companies are putting greater emphasis on skills development and validation, being more flexible with formal degree requirements. In short, skills remain the currency in today’s workforce.
“In fact, Udemy has seen 10 million IT certification enrollments across our platform in the past 12 months, across both business and individual learners. Many of these certifications and badges validate emerging skills in the tech space such as DevOps, cloud, modern programming, and cybersecurity.”
How important are skills compared to degrees? “A focus on skills is more important than ever, given the widening skills gaps in many organizations. An astonishing 87% of executives say they are already facing, or expect to face, critical skills gaps within their organization by 2025. At the same time, the pace of innovation –– with the rise of genAI and other technologies –– has caused the skills required for all jobs to increase by 10% annually, meaning that constant upskilling is required to keep up with the pace of change.
“In the last year alone, our enterprise customer segment grew by 27% as we continue to help more than 15,700 global organizations — including more than 50% of the Fortune 100 — make the transition to skills-based organizations, keeping pace with change and remaining ahead of their competition.”
While genAI is expected by many to create more net new jobs than it eliminates, what kinds of jobs do you see AI creating? “We totally agree –– genAI is transforming how we work and redefining the skills professionals and organizations need to succeed. And we firmly believe that AI can serve as a powerful tool to help increase productivity, close widening skills gaps, and create new job opportunities for workers.
“New technologies can be disruptive. For instance, 3.5 million jobs are estimated to have been lost due to the Internet and PC revolution, but none of us would want to go back to the pre-internet days. The World Economic Forum estimates that while 85 million jobs will be displaced by AI, 97 million new, higher-earning jobs will be created in its place. We’ll see if this is how it plays out, or if AI simply changes that many roles, and individuals who embrace AI skills can thrive in them.
“In many ways, genAI comes as a solution to the widening skills gap, which is projected to cost businesses a whopping $8.5 trillion over the next six years if a course correction is not made. While it’s too soon to tell what specific jobs will be created in the wake of this new technology, it is already providing organizations with a solution that can enable employees to free up 60-70% of their time, allowing them to refocus away from mundane tasks toward more strategic, innovative work –– elevating themselves and their organizations to the tune of $2.6 to $4.4 trillion in annual economic gains.”
What kinds of enrollment rates are you seeing for genAI courses, and how has that grown over the past two years? “At Udemy, we’ve seen an explosion of enrollments in genAI courses. In fact, in our 2024 Global Learning & Skills Trends Report, it was revealed that ChatGPT was the most consumed skill on a global scale. In 2023, Udemy had more than 3.2 million enrollments — which means 6 learners are enrolling in genAI courses on Udemy every single minute. We’ve seen more than 79 million minutes of genAI course consumption.
“Increasingly, companies and individuals are embracing the fact that genAI will be a disruptive technology — and are upskilling to ensure that this disruption is a positive in their careers.”
