The tech industry courses people take online can say a lot about what IT skills are in demand and what the paths to careers look like today.
Udemy is an online learning platform that collects data quarterly on which courses on its platform are most in demand. We've focused on IT and technology skills from their Q1 2024 report. Explore these in-demand IT skills to help you choose where your technology career should go.
Top 10 Emerging Tech Skills Globally
The top 10 global emerging tech skills topics accessed on Udemy are:
- PowerCenter Computing.
- Microsoft Playwright.
- 1Z0-071: Oracle Database SQL Certified Associate Certification.
- CompTIA Security+ Certification.
- DP-203: Microsoft Azure Data Associate Engineer Certification.
- SAP FICO.
- Data structures.
- Java algorithms.
- HashiCorp Terraform Associate Certification.
- Selenium web driver.
“Certifications are an incredibly strong currency in the tech community,” said Scott Rogers, senior vice president of instructors and content strategy at Udemy, in an email to TechRepublic. “They are widely recognized by companies around the world who are increasingly demanding certification for key technical functions in cloud computing, project management and security.”
More than 10 million people enrolled in IT certification courses on Udemy over the past year, Rogers reported.
SEE: Self-upskilling could make you the ideal candidate to fill Australia's IT talent gap. (Technological Republic)
Tech skills that emerged among the top emerging skills on Udemy that reflect the tech industry include:
- Oh.
- SQL Oracle.
- C#.
- Certified Amazon AWS and AWS Cloud Practitioner.
- Piton.
“We've seen customers leverage Udemy to support certification preparation and help IT professionals significantly improve their chances of passing certification exams,” Rogers said.
English as a second language, sustainability and ChatGPT were also popular topics.
One of the most popular courses on Udemy is the TOEIC exams, a business-friendly English as a second language standard. Udemy attributes this to multinational companies using English as their primary language. Udemy students were also interested in Spanish, a language that appears sixth on the list of the top 10 emerging professional skills globally.
The complete list is:
- TOEIC tests.
- Bookkeeping.
- Marketing strategy.
- Supply chain.
- Business analysis.
- Spanish language.
- Information security.
- Deep learning.
- Generative AI.
- Financial analysis.
Environmental, social and governance-related courses were notably popular. Overall, Udemy saw a 3,128% year-over-year increase in ESG course consumption. Only one topic gained popularity more than ESG: ChatGPT. (Interest in ChatGPT-related courses grew by 5,226% in the first quarter of 2023 alone.) ESG-related topics available as courses on Udemy include corporate sustainability, DEI, and business cases for corporate ESG.
Tech Skills in Demand According to LinkedIn, Indeed, CompTIA
Udemy isn't the only place to find courses on IT skills, and the popular skills on Udemy aren't the only skills employers are looking for.
LinkedIn listed artificial intelligence and machine learning as the most in-demand IT skills in 2024, followed by data science and cybersecurity. In fact, it found that generative AI was the highest-paying field in the industry. The Computing Technology Industry Association lists the following as the five most in-demand IT skills in 2024:
- Artificial intelligence.
- Technical support.
- Networks.
- Cloud Computing.
- Linux.
Technology is a growing and lucrative field
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were nearly 364,000 open job openings for technology jobs in December 2023. Computer and information technology occupations are projected to grow faster than most jobs between 2022 and 2032, and the Average annual salary in the field was $104,420. in May 2023.
