Coursera research on the WEF “Future of Jobs Report 2023”

Last year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) published the Future of Jobs Report 2023. It analyzes changes in the labor market, and also reveals the topics of technology adoption, changing jobs and relevant skills in the next five years. In collaboration with the WEF, Coursera conducted research for the report and explained how skills-based approaches to workforce development can help workers displaced from the labor market enter in-demand occupations.

Digital transformation, automation and globalization are creating a shortage of skilled workers and an urgent need for professional retraining and upskilling on a global scale. Generative artificial intelligence continues to develop at a mind-boggling pace; and this fact exacerbates the problem even more – a new class of intellectual workers is now in danger of being displaced. The report predicts that more than 60% of workers will need professional retraining by 2027; however, only half of workers today have access to adequate training opportunities.

Coursera’s research provides valuable insights that can inform retraining strategies for displaced workers. Among the main conclusions of the study:

Students without a college degree took about as long to master key skills as those with a degree.

Coursera has compiled statistics on the median time students spend on courses on their platform. And on the basis of these figures, one cannot come to the disappointing conclusion that students without a diploma need more time to achieve a basic, intermediate or advanced level of mastery of a skill. This highlights that skills-based approaches such as industry certifications and skills-based hiring have great potential to address skills shortages and workforce shortages.

Collective action by the public and private sectors is needed to ensure affordable and flexible retraining pathways for workers. Governments and higher education institutions need to develop relevant and scalable workforce development programs and academic programs to address the challenges of workplace change and unemployment. An approach to talent selection based on professional skills will help employers expand their workforce and create opportunities for professional retraining of employees. Thanks to this, employees will be able to successfully adapt to the rapidly changing requirements of the labor market.

For people, technical skills have been a priority, but in the face of rapidly changing labor needs, employers are placing a new emphasis on non-technical skills.

Individual learners on Coursera mostly focused on developing technical skills. They are most often associated with well-paid and in-demand fields such as programming, networking, cybersecurity, operations, and resource management. Although these skills are not among the most desired by employers, according to the Future of Jobs study, many of these skills are the basis for achieving high proficiency in in-demand fields such as artificial intelligence, big data, leadership and social impact. Although employers usually do not explicitly list reading, writing and arithmetic skills in their job postings, they remain a prerequisite for any applicant to succeed in the workplace.

In times of rapid change and upheaval, companies are emphasizing the “social-emotional” skills that enable employees to respond more effectively to change—resilience, flexibility, leadership, and analytical thinking. These “soft” skills are less prone to automation and become increasingly important as technology advances. While the majority of training hours on Coursera continue to be technical skills, there is every reason to believe that the skill ratio is evening out: from 2017 to 2023, the share of social-emotional skills is steadily increasing.

The research shows that institutions and individuals should invest in both digital and soft skills. Despite this, there is still a discrepancy between the skills that people seek to acquire and the skills that organizations prefer. Institutions must play an important role in supporting and empowering displaced workers with the necessary skills and qualifications to succeed in the new labor market.

Finally, we invite everyone to an open lesson, where we will analyze the basics of Boolean logic in recruiting. We will study candidate search techniques using Boolean operators, as well as analyze and compare the effectiveness of various search engines. You can sign up for a free class on the IT-Recruiter course page.