Q&A: Udemy online education exec on tech layoffs and skills needs

With companies shifting gears when it comes to the skills they want in new hires and current employees, online education providers are quickly compiling lists of generative AI (genAI) courses to meet demand.

While there are still more tech job openings than tech workers available to fill them, job-seeking technologists need to tweak their industry knowledge to get hired. Internally, enterprises are upskilling and reskilling workforces to address a flurry of genAI projects, even as most are still pilots. Not surprisingly, creating, training and securing genAI is becoming a top skill to possess.

AI and machine learning engineers, AI research assistants, data scientists, prompt engineers, are all positions key to genAI rollouts. Beyond that, skills related to organizing, cleaning, and classifying data to ensure AI models are ready for learning continue to be an important skill set in 2024.

Freelance employment platform Upwork recently released a study of freelance worker earnings for all of 2023 and found genAI and data science and analytics skills are seeing “unprecedented” growth in importance.

Along with colleges and universities, online education providers such as Coursera, edX and Udemy have been rolling out new programs to meet employer needs.

Scott Rogers, senior vice president of Instructor and Content Strategy at Udemy, said his company’s online learning platform has seen an explosion of enrollments in genAI courses. This year, Udemy had more than three million genAI-related course enrollments, higher than any other curriculum.

That’s with good reason. Up to 30% of working hours in the US could be automated by 2030 with employees across various professional fields using genAI tools to complete repetitive tasks and redirect their efforts toward more strategic initiatives, according to Rogers.

The company’s 2024 Global Learning and Skills Trends Report revealed that ChatGPT was the most consumed skill on a global scale.

Udemy just launched a GenAI Skills Pack aimed at providing professionals across software engineering, data science, sales, marketing, finance, and HR with dedicated learning paths so they can upskill on genAI content specific to their job duties for immediate impact.

Computerworld spoke with Rogers about why tech layoffs have been increasing while job openings remain high and what employers are seeking in new hires. The following are excerpts from that interview:

Udemy/Scott Rogers

A lot of tech workers laid off over the past six months have struggled to find work, regardless of what unemployment figures lead us to believe. Why is that happening? “The job market has become increasingly competitive as companies like Apple, Google, and IBM, which place an emphasis on technical skills and experience, are vying for talent that has kept up with the pace of industry change. The decreasing shelf life of technical skills and emergence of genAI has resulted in many technology professionals who are currently navigating the job market needing to further invest in continuous upskilling — not only to land their next role, but to remain competitive in the years to come. 

“Additionally, the onset of genAI is changing existing job roles and responsibilities. Up to 30% of working hours in the U.S. can be automated by 2030 with employees across various professional fields using genAI to complete repetitive tasks and redirect their efforts toward more strategic initiatives. Professionals, regardless of role, need to navigate which tasks to automate, what new skills to cultivate, and how to enhance existing skills.” 

Overall, we’ve seen a dramatic shift over the past few months with professionals and organizations transitioning from learning about what GenAI is to how they can effectively use it within their particular job function or industry.

What skills are employers seeking for genAI enablement? “Since ChatGPT launched in 2022, we’ve seen massive demand for genAI content across the Udemy platform. The first ChatGPT course was published on Udemy just 11 days after the technology launched. In 2023, we had more than 3.2 million learners enrolled across 1,700 genAI courses on the Udemy platform. Interest has grown 60% year-over-year with ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Prompt Engineering among the most popular genAI training content.

“Overall, we’ve seen a dramatic shift over the past few months with professionals and organizations transitioning from learning about what genAI is to how they can effectively use it within their particular job function or industry.”

What roles are you seeing as the most needed? “While highly technical roles like data scientists, machine learning engineers, AI researchers, and product managers were the first area of investment for many companies — given the deep understanding they’ll require for AI algorithms, data analysis, and model development — genAI skills are becoming a critical focus for all companies across all job functions.

“For example, we’re seeing financial services professionals focused on course content around genAI for financial modeling and analysis, while HR leaders are exploring how to leverage this technology to create better job descriptions.

“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.”

A focus on skills is more important than ever given the widening skills gaps in many organizations.

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.”