By Leah Belsky, SVP of Enterprise, Coursera
The unprecedented rate of technology advancement is disrupting companies and jobs everywhere. It is also disrupting skills. 42 percent of core job skills are predicted to shift by 2022, pressuring companies and governments worldwide to prioritize the upskilling of talent to secure the competitiveness of their industry or country. This shift is right at the heart of Coursera for Business, which has partnered with 2,000 businesses and governments worldwide to transform their talent in the face of accelerating change. Today, I’m excited to share the next chapter in our global growth: Coursera for Business is available in Mexico and Colombia as part of our expansion in Latin America.
Colombia and Mexico have incredible potential to become innovation drivers for the region but have economic challenges to overcome. The steep unemployment rate in Colombia makes it challenging for individuals to find stable jobs and for companies to acquire sufficient talent. Mexico similarly faces rising unemployment, while also challenged by automation (more than half of jobs are at risk). These economic hardships also contribute to a skills proficiency deficit, with Mexico and Colombia behind in critical skills like data science and technology, according to our Global Skills Index.
Coursera for Business is committed to partnering with companies and governments in both countries to equip citizens with the skills needed to advance their careers, boost employability, and stimulate economic growth. Our expansion in Colombia is marked by a strategic partnership with the Colombia Ministry of Information and Technology Communication to equip more than 2,200 citizens with the skills needed to succeed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The program trains university professors and engineering students in key artificial intelligence skills. It is helping to close talent gaps in this high-demand field, while also preparing the Colombian workforce to participate in the next phase of economic growth driven by AI.
Coursera’s enterprise expansion in Colombia is also led by a partnership with BNP Paribas Cardif to equip citizens with job-relevant skills. As the leading B2B insurance company, BNP Paribas Cardif is offering Coursera to customers of its unemployment, fraud, and kidnap insurance bank partners. Each customer receives access to a Coursera course related to data science, business or IT skills, in addition to career resources like job-boards and resume counsel.
Qualfon, a global business process outsourcer company founded in Mexico with operations in five countries, has similarly partnered with Coursera for Business to invest in the career growth of its 14,000 employees. Qualfon is offering Coursera courses in leadership, computer science, and business in an effort to fulfill its mission of “making people’s lives better” and reduce turnover rates, which are notoriously high among call centers. 6,000 employees have benefited from the program so far, with 94 percent having applied their newly acquired skills to their personal and professional life.
We are dedicated to providing businesses of all sizes access to transformative learning and we’re thrilled to have more than 40 businesses in Colombia and Mexico already using our self-serve platform to learn and grow.
As we scale in the region, we will continue to cater to our Spanish-speaking learners that already benefit from the 400+ courses available in Spanish. Recently, Universidad de Los Andes, a leading institution in Colombia, announced plans to develop a master’s degree in software engineering on Coursera. This will be Latin America’s first fully online master’s degree in software engineering from a top-ten university and the first Spanish-language degree on the Coursera platform.
Latin American governments and companies have an exciting opportunity to drive economic change from within by equipping their workforce with the skills needed to innovate and compete. We couldn’t be more excited to be their strategic upskilling partner on that journey.
Learn more about Coursera for Business.
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