The UK is the 25th most technically proficient country in Europe, according to a new report from online course provider Coursera. It is far behind other digital leaders in the region such as Germany, France and Spain.
Globally, the UK ranked 45th out of 109 countries, an improvement on last year's 64th place; However, considering the government's significant investments in digital skills, the country's ranking suggests that current efforts may need to be reassessed.
But the UK is by no means a reflection of Europe as a whole when it comes to technical competence. Switzerland took first place in the world rankings and European countries took 17 of the top 25 spots. Germany, France and Spain came in third, fifth and seventh place, respectively.
The findings were published in Coursera's 2024 Global Skills Report, which is based on data from more than 148 million online course learners worldwide and other indicators, including the Global Innovation Index, Online Participation Rate, the Labor Force, the Human Capital Index and the GDP per capita.
As an example of an area where the UK may be lagging behind, the country has seen lower adoption of upskilling in AI in the last 12 months (961%) compared to the US (1,058). %) and the world average (1,060%). Donal McMahon, vice president of data science at job site Indeed, told TechRepublic earlier this year that companies around the world “are looking for employees who know AI and can adapt to new and emerging technologies.”
SEE: What IT skills will be most in demand in the first quarter of 2024?
Nikolaz Foucaud, managing director of EMEA at Coursera, told TechRepublic in an email: “While the UK has a strong technology services sector, employing more than 1.7 million people, we need to significantly increase investment business and government in improving skills to create an internationally competitive workforce.
“We must strive for greater collaboration between higher education institutions, government and the technology industry to meet the rapidly evolving skills requirements of the digital economy. Without this collaboration and the right level of investment, we will continue to fall behind in mastering technical skills.”
The UK's digital skills shortage
The level of “skills shortage vacancies”, where a position cannot be filled due to a lack of skills, qualifications or experience among applicants, is very high in the information and communications sector in the UK. The figure increased 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 UK by 2024
This digital skills shortage does not go unnoticed. In 2023, Red Hat surveyed IT managers at large UK-based companies about why teams were struggling with skills shortages, and the top three reasons were:
- High workloads prevent people from finding time to improve their skills.
- The lack of budget for training, skills improvement or hiring.
- Teams working in silos, preventing cross-team learning opportunities.
Recent investments in UK digital skills
The UK government has noted the country's digital skills shortage and has made a number of key investments over the last year to try to address it. In March 2023, the UK government launched its plan to turn the country into a science and technology superpower by 2030. More than £370 million was allocated to boost infrastructure, investment and skills for technologies such as quantum and artificial intelligence.
The following November, more than £200 million was announced to support colleges and universities to offer more training opportunities across industries, including digital. In March this year, Science Secretary Michelle Donelan unveiled another package of more than £1.1bn to fund 4,000 PhDs in engineering and physical sciences.
SEE: UK tech trends and predictions for 2024
Microsoft has also made significant investments to close the digital skills gap in the UK. In December 2023, the tech giant announced a “multi-million dollar investment” to provide AI skills training to more than one million people. This is expected to boost the UK's AI sector by helping more people enter AI and data-related career fields.
While it may take several years for the impacts of these investments to become a reality, Coursera analysts wrote that the Global Skills Report results highlight how there is still “an urgent need for targeted upskilling initiatives to ensure that workforce can meet the requirements.” changing demands of the digital economy.
Popular and in-demand technology skills in Europe
AI
The Coursera report revealed that the number of people in the UK enrolling in generative AI courses increased by 961% between 2023 and 2024. This reflects the growing popularity of technical roles such as data analyst and software developer and the interest of the population in developing the necessary skills. to fill them.
The country is overindexing on skills like machine learning algorithms and applied machine learning, meaning people are disproportionately enrolling in a given skill compared to students globally. According to the UK government, the AI sector already employs more than 50,000 people in the UK and contributes more than £3.7 billion to the economy each year. By 2035, the UK AI market is forecast to grow to over $1 trillion.
SEE: The 10 best AI courses in 2024
Foucaud told TechRepublic: “The meteoric rise in popularity of AI courses is largely due to the demand for AI skills from companies and institutions seeking to capitalize on the promise of higher productivity and greater competitiveness that it brings. the AI.
“It is also true that people, whether concerned about the threat that technological innovation may pose to their livelihoods, or excited by the prospect of acquiring new cutting-edge skills with a view to increasing seniority, salary or both, are demonstrating interest in AI regardless of your organization's stance on the technology.
“Beyond the economic and personal development drives behind the high uptake of AI courses, there is also simply a strong interest in understanding the nuances of a technology that will likely define the future of work and have significant knock-on effects on the society”.
Cyber security
Cybersecurity is currently one of the biggest technology threats to UK businesses. A recent report from Microsoft and Goldsmiths at the University of London found that only 13% of UK businesses are resilient to cyber attacks, with 48% considered vulnerable and the remaining 39% facing high risk. This risk extends to Europe: a 2023 Cisco study found that less than 10% of companies in the region are considered mature enough to address current cybersecurity issues.
Despite the growing adoption of skills related to artificial intelligence and machine learning, cybersecurity is not enjoying the same popularity. Coursera's report found that European enrollments in cybersecurity courses decreased by 5% in 2024, despite Europe being the region most affected by cyberattacks.
Foucaud told TechRepublic: “IT and cyber experts report that while companies are hiring cyber experts, the current hiring process relies too heavily on college degrees, which alone do not prepare candidates with the right cyber skills.” .
“To address this concern, there will be a greater need to implement alternative forms of credentials that prioritize equipping people with this essential skill set at speed and scale.”
