The fourth industrial revolution is upon us, it’s creating a technologically-driven world at a lightning-fast pace. The effects of this change are being felt strongly across industry verticals. Industry 4.0 technologies like Machine Learning and AI, Big Data, Data Science, Cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), and Robotics are creating new opportunities for businesses. To leverage the opportunity businesses are increasingly investing in identifying the right digital initiatives and enabling the workforce to implement solutions.

In the context of the changing digital economy, the demand for hands-on technical skills is on the rise. We are transitioning through the phase of industry-wide transformation and access to a skilled workforce is emerging as a major challenge for businesses. As the demand grows further, the workforce needs to realign the skill sets and career goals with the requirements of the industry.

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The skills required for jobs today are evolving rapidly, but our formal education systems haven’t been able to catch up with the times. As per the recent National Employability Report, just about 3.84 percent of our graduating engineers are employable in software-centric jobs at start-ups, and only 3 percent possess functional skills related to mobile technologies, machine learning, AI and data engineering.

With the current education system completely out of sync with the changing requirements in the professional world, E-learning platforms offering programs on industry-relevant skills, emerge as a strong alternative for augmenting the skills. The world today needs an education system capable of overhauling itself, a system that continuously realigns with the changing demands of the industry.

The challenge is not just at the entry-level jobs. World Economic Forum (WEF) report corroborates this trend of skill mismatch for lateral hires as well. As per the World Economic Forum (WEF) report, 35 percent of the skills demanded across industry verticals will change by 2020. The skill sets of the workforce are becoming out-dated faster than ever before. Continuous learning has become a necessity of survival for today’s workforce.

For businesses, access to skilled talent is becoming a bottleneck in navigating through the challenges of digital transformation. Traditional job boards serve well while there is an adequate available talent pool with relevant skills, but times are changing. There is a lack of skilled talent in the market. The lateral talent needs to be re-skilled and fresh talent needs to be skilled for the industry. This has resulted in companies turning toward E-learning platforms for their hiring needs. Hiring skilled talent from these platforms serves as the perfect symbiotic relationship for everyone.

This model is fast emerging as a real disruptor in the scheme of new-age hiring.

Since a long time, IT companies have put their recruits through three to nine months of training to get them job-ready. However, a majority of mid-tier companies and startups do not have the resources to invest in skill development programs for their new or existing employees. E-Learning platforms, thus, become a natural solution.

The online school trains the talent to make them employable for the current industry demands. Hiring companies save precious time and training costs by hiring from this pool of skilled candidates.

What makes e-learning platforms universally appealing for candidates is the fact that the programs are meant for everyone and can be accessed at one’s convenience. Anyone who desires to enhance their skills and capabilities, be it a fresh graduate or a professional with a decade of experience can use the platforms. This creates a continuous supply of skilled talent across experience and skill levels. Thus moving towards being a recruitment platform seems to be a natural transition for these platforms.

This software-modeled development of the education system signals the development of the education system into one that is iterative, adaptive and more agile. It also provides a new channel for companies looking to hire skilled talent. New age E-learning platforms are not only helping graduates and experienced professionals upgrade their skill-sets but also helping them find employment opportunities with the hiring partners.

It will be interesting to see how this wave of e-learning becomes the next big step for talent acquisition, disrupting two industries at once – Education and Hiring.

( Arman Ahmed, Co-Founder and CEO, EdYoda )