Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company, rightly states – The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay. Well, providing training to employees has always been an important part of the Learning and Development (L&D) teams of all organizations. However, today it has more significance owing to the growing technological advancements and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning and Data Analysis taking over the world.
Automation is being considered as a threat to the workforce from a few years. If a new analysis from Bank of America Merrill Lynch is taken into account, there could be around 800 million jobs that would disappear around the world by 2035. It is attributed to the fact that the cost of automation has been declining, a 27% decline was observed in the duration from 2005 to 2014. It is estimated to decrease further by around 22% by the year 2025.
While some experts believe that many of the manual jobs will become obsolete in the future due to the introduction of robots, others argue that there will be a balance between ‘labor replacing technologies’ and ‘labor reinstating technologies’ (that creates new jobs). Whatever the case, it goes without saying that one needs to upskill to stay competitive in this turbulent digital economy. Upskilling is the practice of expanding people’s capabilities and their employability to fulfill the talent needs in today’s dynamic job market.
Now when you think about upskilling, you are lucky if your organization sets up an upskilling initiative to train you. However, every professional has different learning requirements, and corporate training may not be quite suitable for them. As such, professionals can turn to online training providers to take up industry-oriented programs and gain the in-demand skills that employers look for.
Read on to know which are the top training providers you can rely on.
Top Online Training Providers
Technological advancements have changed the way we see things today. The education sector has also embraced them, and eLearning has become a popular choice for students and professionals alike. There are short-term as well as long-term courses that eLearning platforms offer in a wide range of domains, be it digital marketing, project management, photography, programming, fashion, or even finance. So, let us explore the top eLearning providers.
1. Simplilearn.com
Started as a blog that shared ideas on Project Management in 2009, Simplilearn has come a long way to become one of the world’s leading certification training providers. It offers courses in a wide range of categories, including Big Data, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Marketing, Project Management, Cyber Security, and more.
Offering both self-paced and instructor-led training for their courses, Simplilearn boasts of training more than 1,000,000 professionals worldwide. Their courses are designed by industry experts and also prepare you to achieve renowned certifications in different fields.
2. LinkedIn Learning
Professionals who wish to enter the corporate world first set up their profile on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 660 million users worldwide. LinkedIn partnered with Lynda.com for their eLearning initiatives. They offer over 16000 courses in four different categories, namely:
- Business
- Technology
- Creative
- Certification Programs
High-quality courses are created by utilizing LinkedIn skills, and job data and emerging trends are identified. Employees can achieve their goals through insights-driven course recommendations. They provide certification when you complete any course.
3. Udemy
Udemy describes itself as the leading worldwide marketplace for learning and instruction. What makes it different from other training providers is that there are no particular trainers for a course, and people can upload their courses if they are skilled in any domain. Also, the courses are comparatively reasonable, which makes it a top choice for students.
The platform has 57K instructors, around 150K courses, and 295 million course enrollments. You can find courses related to web development, game development, finance and accounting, entrepreneurship, office productivity, personal development, and more. Udemy also offers seasonal discounts that a learner can check out and purchase any course at a lower price range.
4. Coursera
Coursera aims to give you the world’s best learning experience by offering courses in partnership with leading universities and companies. Some of the popular universities are Arizona State University, Imperial College London, Johns Hopkins University, and Stanford University. You can find a range of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as well as paid courses in this eLearning platform. Learners can choose Specialization programs (multiple courses) as well if they are willing to learn a subject from beginning to advanced level.
5. Udacity
The journey of Udacity started as an experiment in online learning when Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig, instructors at Stanford University, offered their “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” course for free. Udacity has seen tremendous growth, and its learners contribute to some of the most innovative fields in the world. Its list of featured programs includes AI for Business Leaders, Data Streaming, Java Developer, Sensor Fusion Engineer, Data Visualization, Marketing Analytics, and Predictive Analytics for Business.
Apart from individual courses, Udacity also offers training for enterprises and offers prescriptive curriculum mapping, dedicated enterprise customer success managers, and seamless program management.
6. Trainual
Ready to E-Learn?
Are you skeptical about joining an online course? Well, there are many who are confused between traditional and e-learning. Here is a surprising figure – According to Global Market Insights, the eLearning market size is expected to be worth over USD 375 billion by the year 2026. It highlights that this growth is attributed to the rising demand for technology-enabled teaching and the flexibility of learning from remote places.
While this demand was not possible a decade ago, today, people have access to affordable gadgets like smartphones as well as internet connectivity. Moreover, people residing in very remote areas had limited education providers. But with eLearning, they get the benefit of learning from best-in-class instructors. The courses are also often integrated with virtual labs that give practical exposure to the learners.
Finally, with a pool of resources available over the internet, we have tried to reduce your confusion so that you can select the best training provider. Before enrolling for any course, research about the field you are interested in, what are the latest trends, and whether taking up a particular training course will help your career in the long run. Soon you will be able to grab the attention of hiring managers.
