According to a new report from online training provider Coursera, the United Kingdom is the 25th most technically efficient nation in Europe. It is well ahead of other regional modern leaders like Germany, France, and Spain.
Globally, the U. K. came 45th out of 109 countries, which is an improvement from last year’s 64th position, but, considering the president’s significant investments into modern skills, the government’s rank suggests that existing efforts may need to be reassessed.
However, when it comes to technical skills, the U.K. is by no indicates a reflection of Europe as a whole. On the international scale, Europe ranked 17 of the top 25 states, while Switzerland placed first. Germany, France and Spain came in 3rd, 5th and 7th, both.
The findings were made available in Coursera’s 2024 International Skills Report, which draws from information from more than 148 million international online course takers and other measures like the Labour Force Participation Rate, Human Capital Index, GDP per capita, and Global Innovation Index.
As an example of an area where the U. K. may be falling behind, the country has seen a lower uptake in AI upskilling in the past 12 months (961 % ) compared to the U. S. ( 1, 058 % ) and the global average ( 1, 060 % ). Companies around the world are all looking for people who are aware of AI and are able to adapt to new and emerging technology, according to Donald McMahon, vice president of information science at work site However, earlier this year.
Notice: Which IT Skills Are Most in Desire in Q1 2024?
While the U.K. boasts a strong tech services sector, one that employs over 1.7 million people, Nikolaz Foucaud, managing director of EMEA at Coursera, wrote in an email,” We need to drastically improve both enterprise and political investment in upskilling to create an globally- competitive labor force,” Foucaud said in an email.
To join the rapidly changing talent requirements of the online business, we must strive for greater cooperation between higher education institutions, the state, and the tech sector. Without this partnership and the appropriate degree of investment, we may continue to fall behind in specialized skills proficiency.”
U. K.’s modern skills lack
The level of” skills- lack vacancies, “where a job may be filled due to a lack of skills, qualifications or experience among applicants, is very high in the information and communications market in the U. K. The figure climbed from an already high 25 % in 2017 to 43 % in 2022, the last year for which data is available.
SEE: Top IT Skills Trends in the U. K. for 2024
This digital skills shortage is not going unnoticed. Red Hat surveyed IT managers in large U.K. businesses in 2023 to find out why teams were experiencing a skills shortage. The top three reasons were:
- High workloads prevent people from finding time to improve their skills.
- The lack of budget for training, upskilling or recruitment.
- Teams working in silos, preventing cross- team learning opportunities.
Recent investments in the U. K.’s digital skills
The U.K. government has made a number of significant investments over the past year or so to address the nation’s digital skills shortage. The United Kingdom government announced its plan to become a science and technology superpower by 2030 in March 2023. More than$ 370 million was allocated to improving infrastructure, investment, and skills for technologies like quantum and AI.
More than$ 200 million was announced in November to help colleges and universities provide more training opportunities in sectors including digital. Science Secretary Michelle Donelan unveiled a new package worth more than £1.1 billion to support 4, 000 doctorates in the engineering and physical sciences in March.
SEE: UK Tech Trends &, Predictions for 2024
Microsoft has also made significant investments to close the digital skills gap in the United Kingdom. The tech giant made a “multi-million pound investment” in December 2023 to train more than one million people in AI skills. It is anticipated that this will encourage the U.K.’s AI sector by enabling more people to enter the fields of AI and data-related careers.
The results of the Global Skills Report “underline the urgent need for targeted upskilling initiatives to ensure the workforce can meet the evolving demands of the digital economy,” according to the Coursera analysts, adding that it may take a number of years for these investments to become reality.
Popular and in high demand in Europe, tech skills are in high demand.
AI
According to the Coursera report, between 2023 and 2024, there were 961 % increases in the number of people in the United Kingdom taking generative AI courses. This reflects the increasing demand for technical positions like data analyst and software developer as well as the population’s desire to develop the skills needed to fill them.
The nation is over-indexing in skills like applied machine learning and machine learning, which means that fewer people worldwide are enrolling in a given skill than they are globally. According to the U. K. government, the AI sector already employs more than 50, 000 people in the U. K. and contributes more than £3.7 billion to the economy every year. By 2035, the U. K. AI market is forecast to grow to more than$ 1 trillion.
SEE: The 10 Best AI Courses in 2024
According to Foucaud,” The meteoric rise of popularity in AI courses is largely being fueled by demand for AI skills from businesses and institutions looking to capitalize on the promise of greater productivity and increased competitiveness that AI brings.”
Regardless of their organization’s position on the technology, it is also true that people are showing an interest in AI regardless of their concern about the threat that technological innovation may pose to their livelihoods or who are excited about the prospect of acquiring cutting-edge new skills in order to increase seniority, pay, or both.
Beyond the economic and personal development motivations driving the popularity of AI courses, there is also a genuine desire to understand the intricacies of a technology that will likely determine the future of work and have significant societal effects.
Cyber security
One of the biggest technological threats to U.K. businesses is currently cyber security. A recent report from Microsoft and Goldsmiths, University of London found that just 13 % of U. K. businesses are resilient to cyberattacks, with 48 % deemed vulnerable and the remaining 39 % facing high risk. This danger also applies to Europe, where a Cisco study in 2023 found that only 10 % of businesses in the area are deemed mature enough to address the issues facing cybersecurity today.
Despite the rapid growth in the adoption of AI and machine learning skills, cyber security is not gaining in the same popularity. Despite Europe being the region most susceptible to cyberattacks, the Coursera report found that European enrollments in cybersecurity courses decreased by 5 % in 2024.
According to Foucaud, “IT and cyber experts report that while businesses are hiring for cyber experts, the current hiring process is too reliant on university degrees, which do not on their own prepare candidates with the right cyber skills.”
There will be a growing need to implement alternative forms of credential that prioritize educating individuals with this crucial skill set quickly and effectively in order to address this concern.
