Member Article

Business and Leadership top choice for professional development courses, despite increasing demand for digital skills

Business and Leadership courses are the top choice for professional development, despite the increasing demand for digital skills, according to new research by ‘knowledge marketplace’, Knoma.

The data, which reviewed the applications of over 1580 individuals between January – June 2022, analysed course choices, employment status, applicant age and income to understand attitudes to professional development amongst UK workers.

Despite an emphasis on the growing digital skills gap and the accelerating use of technology in UK businesses, courses in Cyber Security were only the third most popular, lagging behind Finance and Accounting in 2nd, with Data Science and Cloud Computing 4th and 6th respectively.

Other key take outs from the research include:

 82% of candidates completing the Business and Leadership courses are under full-time employment, compared to just 65% of individuals undertaking Finance and Accounting courses, and 68% undertaking Cyber Security courses.

 Only 47% of individuals completing courses in Bookkeeping and Payroll are employed full-time.

 Candidates completing courses in Business & Leadership have an average age of 35 and average monthly income of £1776.42, whereas candidates completing Cyber Security courses have an average age of 34 and slightly lower average monthly income of £1485.52.

 Interestingly, candidates applying for courses in the niche category of Artificial Intelligence – being just 1.8% of all candidates – have an average of 39 but have the highest average monthly income.

 Courses in Marketing, Health & Fitness, Beauty, and Art & Photography were the least popular.

Discussing the research, Brett Shanley, CEO of Knoma, said: “This data is extremely interesting and not only highlights that most individuals consider professional development in their mid to late thirties, but that the majority are focused on increasing their income through management and leadership, as opposed to learning new and vital skills.

Although this data only represents a snapshot of the UK workforce, it could be argued that businesses could do more to encourage workers to advance their skillset in tech, particularly as the country continues to face a growing skills gap, while battling increasing cyber security risks. Aside from overcoming resource challenges, a commitment to reskilling and upskilling workers will not only make employees feel valued, but it also provides an opportunity to aid individual career prospects and resulting income.“

Described as the ‘ethical Klarna’ for education, Knoma helps people find and finance the courses they need to get ahead in their careers, or to kickstart brand new ones.

Focused on encouraging lifelong learning, the fast-growth start-up provides an ethical finance solution that enables learners to spread course fees over a 12-month period with zero added costs or interest – making professional development both accessible and affordable.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Stone .