Job challenges and online learning

A report released by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum addressed global employment challenges and online learning.

In general, technology is revolutionizing labor markets: changing the skill requirements of jobs, replacing roles and creating new occupations and hybridizing others.

These technological changes are causing a schism between the skills that workers have and the skills that employers need.

According to the estimates referred to in the report:

• 54% of employees will need some type of retraining by 2022.
• 83% of companies have trouble finding qualified candidates.
• 46% of organizations report a growing skills gap.
• 79% of the world’s CEOs are concerned that a lack of essential skills threatens their organizations.

These concerns have led to the idea that workers will have to become lifelong learners to keep up with the expected ever-changing job landscape.

Thus, the concept of lifelong learning is leading traditional education and training providers, employers, workforce groups and other stakeholders to reinvent job training.

Job challenges

In particular, how it can be facilitated efficiently and by which entities (online platforms, traditional facilitators, employers).

To this end, online training platforms have collected a great deal of data on how people acquire new skills.

Information extracted from online learning platforms.

• More and less effective teaching methods by subject.
• The skills people are learning, who is learning them, and where.

The granular data that online learning platforms collect can inform the types of incentives and feedback loops that encourage and support learning.

Data can reveal what people choose to learn, how they are performing, and how results can be improved.

Competitive analyzes can also be carried out around the competencies that are acquired in all regions.

Temporal analyzes can be performed to determine whether certain political, economic, professional or personal events affect when people are most likely to seek new skills and complete training.