5 Online institutions that are helping youth upskill and become future-ready for the workforce

There has been growing industry demand for changing skills in the job market that has accelerated the need for upskilling courses. While formal education might provide the technical knowledge and skills that professionals need for a job, no one teaches soft skills like communication, critical thinking, or problem-solving.

Moreover, soft skills in the workplace are also turning out to be increasingly important as organizations look to add additional value to their business. According to a Wonderlic report, 93% of hiring leaders stated soft skills are an “essential” or “very important” element when making hiring decisions. A recent LinkedIn survey revealed that professionals are now learning time management, critical thinking, networking skills, negotiation techniques, etc. through various platforms.

5 online institutions platforms helping youth upskill and become future-ready

LinkedIn Learning: LinkedIn Learning is an online educational platform that helps you discover and develop business, technology-related, and creative skills through expert-led course videos. The platform offers more than 16,000 courses, 9,000 of which are in English. Each course is broken down into multiple short videos with specific learning goals. Besides individual courses, LinkedIn Learning offers content to those studying for professional certification exams or earning continuing education credits. The platform has 34 certification courses. While LinkedIn Learning is available for individuals, the platform has programs geared toward employers, libraries, government agencies, and colleges and universities. These programs are data-driven and designed to provide learners with the skills they need to succeed.

Coursera: Coursera is a global online learning platform that offers anyone, anywhere, access to online courses and degrees from leading universities and companies. 82 million learners, 100+ Fortune 500 companies, and more than 6,000 campuses, businesses, and governments come to Coursera to access world-class learning—anytime, anywhere. Coursera's education offerings run the gamut, from personal development courses like its extremely popular Yale Science of Well-Being course, to workforce upskilling programs from companies like Google and IBM. Coursera also offers online degrees in industries such as public health and computer science.

Harappa Education: Harappa is a learner-centred edtech startup that is committed to delivering programs that drive transformative career success using Thrive Skills—an essential set of cognitive, social and behavioral skills to enable individuals to continuously succeed, at every stage of their career. Harappa begins where formal education ends. Harappa is helping working professionals level up and navigate their most crucial career cusps with must-have Thrive Skills. Beyond degrees and qualifications, they offer the foundational skills critical to achieve professional success and personal meaning. Mid pandemic, Harappa extended its offering to individual learners expanding to the B2C L&D space. They also opened up their stealth and resilience-building course, Embracing Change course to all for free in the middle of the pandemic last year, with 280,000 learners enrolled. Harappa also provides live learning support to ensure that the learners can ask questions and clarify their doubts at any time during their learning journey.

Great Learning: Great Learning comes with a goal to deliver high-quality blended learning outcomes in Analytics, Data Science, AI, Deep Learning, Cloud Computing, and Machine Learning. Recently, they expanded their offerings to include programs in Cybersecurity, Software Development, and Business. Keeping in mind the importance of constant skill development in an effort to stay relevant, they crafted these programs with institutions such as Stanford GSB (Executive Education), Stanford Center for Professional Development, McCombs School of Business (UT Austin), and the Great Lakes Institute of Management. What’s more, they also work with students from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, the US, and the UK. Till date, they’ve delivered more than 7 million hours of learning to thousands of students.

Simplilearn: Simplilearn is the online bootcamp for digital economy skills training focused on helping people acquire the skills they need to thrive in the digital economy. They provide rigorous online training in disciplines such as Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Project Management, Digital Marketing, and Data Science, among others. They specialize in areas where technologies and best practices are transforming, and the demand for qualified candidates significantly exceeds supply. Through individual courses, comprehensive certification programs, and partnerships with world-renowned universities, we provide millions of professionals and thousands of corporate training organizations with the work-ready skills they need to excel in their careers.