Security News > 2024 > June > UK Trails Behind Europe in Technical Skills Proficiency, Coursera Report Finds

The U.K. is by no means a reflection of Europe as a whole when it comes to technical proficiency.

"We must strive for greater collaboration between higher education institutions, government and the technology industry to meet the rapidly evolving skill requirements of the digital economy. Without this collaboration and the right level of investment, we will continue to fall behind in technical skills proficiency."

While it may take a number of years for the impacts of these investments to come to fruition, the Coursera analysts wrote that the results of the Global Skills Report highlight how there's still "An urgent need for targeted upskilling initiatives to ensure the workforce can meet the evolving demands of the digital economy."

Popular and in-demand tech skills in Europe AI. The Coursera report revealed that the number of individuals in the U.K. who enrolled for generative AI courses increased by 961% from 2023 to 2024.

The country is over-indexing in skills like machine learning algorithms and applied machine learning, meaning that individuals are disproportionately enrolling in a given skill compared to learners globally.

"Foucaud told TechRepublic:"IT and cyber experts report that, whilst 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.

News URL

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/uk-behind-technical-skills-proficiency-coursera/