The 10 In-Demand Skills Your Employees Need in May 2019

The workplace is transforming—new digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and automation tools are rapidly changing the way we work, develop products, and interact with our customers. These changes mean that learning & development (L&D) leaders are responsible for keeping employees up to speed with the ever-evolving skills ecosystem. Wondering which skills are hot right now? Our global Udemy marketplace of 30+ million learners and thousands of businesses gives us access to unique data on the most in-demand skills. Here are the top 10 tech and business skills newly added to Udemy for Business in May 2019.

Tech skills

1. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the drivers of the digital transformation, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that humans will be replaced by robots. In fact, a recent PwC study found that 38% of business executives say that AI will lead to an increased headcount while only 19% say AI will lead to job cuts in their organization. However, a significant number of executives do perceive a skills gap, with 31% of those surveyed worried about their inability to meet the demand for AI skills over the next five years. Here at Udemy, we’ve seen an increased focus on AI-related skills, with machine learning open source library TensorFlow named the #4 hot tech skill for 2019.

Courses like Artificial Intelligence Masterclass can help your employees build their AI knowledge and skills. This course offers 10 hours of step-by-step guidance, taking learners through a full roadmap to build their own Hybrid AI Model from scratch. Artificial Intelligence Masterclass focuses on the Full World Model, combining all the state of the art models of the different AI branches, including Deep Learning, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Policy Gradient, and Deep NeuroEvolution. Expert instructors Hadelin de Ponteves and Kirill Eremenko have collectively taught over 1.3 million learners on Udemy.

“I’m an aspiring data scientist and this course is a great source of knowledge. This course is easy to follow and provides resource material to dive deeper into any topic. I highly recommend this course and the community.” – Course review

2. Python for data analysis

There’s no denying the popularity of Python. According to Stack Overflow, Python is the most questioned language on their site in 2019 and one of the top 5 most loved languages. Time series forecasting involves using a model to predict future values based on previously observed values. This has tremendous commercial significance, according to Machine Learning Plus, because information like demand, sales, number of visitors to a website, and stock prices are all essentially time series data.

Python for Time Series Data Analysis is a course for Python developers interested in learning how to forecast time series data. In 15 hours of video, instructor Jose Portilla covers everything learners need to know in order to use Python for forecasting time series data to predict new future data points. Jose’s background is in mechanical engineering, data science, and programming, and he has taught over 1 million students on Udemy.

“Love the fact that you walk through everything. Nothing is left to the imagination, or to spend three hours figuring out. Thanks!” – Course review

3. Chatbots

Chatbots are already transforming some industries like customer service. With their ability to answer questions without a human representative, they free up time and save businesses money. One recent study by Drift, Salesforce, and SurveyMonkey found that 69% of consumers actually prefer using chatbots for quick communication with brands. On Facebook alone, more than 8 billion messages have already been exchanged between humans and bots.

If your employees are interested in learning how to build a chatbot, Create Chatbot for Website with React and Node.js covers building a chatbot for a webpage using Node.js and React. This course assumes a basic knowledge of Node.js, React, and GIT. Using DialogFlow to process natural language, the course help learners understand what users want from an exchange. By the end of the course, users will have a sample bot that they will able to tweak to suit their needs. Instructor Jana Bergant is a developer with over 20 years of experience who loves to help learners experience the positive side of switching to web development.

“Jana is an excellent teacher! The course covers a great deal of content, and is presented in a friendly and very effective manner to optimize the learning experience. Questions are answered promptly, and it seems like the course is evolving to address the common requests from the Q & A section.” – Course review

4. Tableau

According to Forbes, Tableau is often regarded as the “grand master of data visualization software.” This software already has a large customer base, thanks to its ease of use and interactive visualizations. “It is particularly well suited to handling the huge and very fast-changing datasets which are used in Big Data operations, including artificial intelligence and machine learning applications,” writes Bernard Marr.

Tableau has many great tools and functions including table calculations that make everyday life easier for the data scientist. Your employees can master Tableau with help from Advanced Tableau – Level of Detail Expressions / LOD R-Tutorials Training. This course covers a special toolset called the level of detail (LOD) expressions, introducing the general mechanics of LOD expressions both in theory and practice. After completing the course, learners will be empowered to solve a wide array of analytical challenges because LOD expressions let the analyst come up with creative solutions for custom scenarios. R Tutorials have taught over 120,000 learners on Udemy and focus on topics in Data Science, Tableau, and Excel.

“This course is invaluable. LOD expressions are confusing to properly understand and this instructor does a fantastic job of explaining the material in ways that facilitate understanding. He not only speaks slowly and clearly, but also includes video that is timed with the speech and very well illustrates each point he’s trying to make. You will not only understand LODs at the end of this course, but truly master their subtle nuances.” – Course review

5. Cyber security

The threat of cybercrime is real and its impact can be significant, both on an individual and business level. Nearly 60 million Americans have been affected by identity theft, according to a 2018 survey by The Harris Poll. The cost of the average data breach to companies worldwide is $3.86 million, and damage related to cybercrime is projected to hit $6 trillion annually by 2021.

Help your employees and your business prevent cybercrime with The Ultimate 2019 Cyber Security Awareness Training Course, which covers the various ways hackers can socially engineer people at work, home, and through devices. Learners will gain the knowledge to protect themselves from identity theft by securely managing sensitive emails, files, passwords, and mobile phones. Instructor Reza Zaheri leads this simple, fun, and engaging course, drawing upon over 15 years of experience in cyber security with Fortune 100 companies.

“I am now halfway through the course, and I am blown away at how much I have learned. What is amazing is that the instructor makes online security easy to understand and do. Because of that, I have been able to do everything he says to stay secure as I go along. And I feel 100X safer for it.” – Course review

Business skills

1. Google Sheets

Data plays an increasingly important role in our working life—whether a marketer is analyzing the success of a campaign or an HR person is looking at employee retention and attrition rates. It’s not surprising, then, that Google Sheets has become an essential part of the modern employee’s toolkit. Google Sheets makes it easier to quickly organize and analyze data, and the cloud-based application offers many more features than traditional spreadsheet tools like online storage and shared, real-time editing.

The Complete Google Sheets Course: Beginner to Advanced! takes learners through the fundamentals of Google Sheets, gradually building upon this knowledge with more advanced formulas. Instructor Evan Ramsey has worked in analytics and operations roles at several top tier Silicon Valley companies like LinkedIn and Udemy after earning a degree in Economics at Harvard.

“AMAZING COURSE. I’ve never been able to absorb information on spreadsheets because books and other courses don’t have applicable, concrete examples. This course is engaging, thorough, fun and meticulously well thought-out so that anyone can walk away with legitimate spreadsheet skills. The teacher explains super complicated topics in an easy to understand way and has creative exercises to make sure that the skills stick with you.” – Course review

2. Presenting with confidence

In an increasingly technological world, it’s still important for people to communicate clearly and confidently. Udemy’s recent Humanizing Learning research report found that high-performing organizations nurture uniquely human traits in their employees, including creativity, public speaking, storytelling, and collaboration. Luckily, storytelling is a skill that can be developed.

In Presenting with Confidence: Prepare, Practice and Perform!, instructor Alexa Fischer helps learners tap into their natural light, igniting what Alexa calls “all 1000 watts” of their power. This course is designed for anyone who wants to be engaging, confident, and charismatic while presenting. The course covers a wide range of topics related to presenting in front of others, including creating memorable slides, overcoming nervousness, and dressing for success.

“Fantastic speaker, experienced and very positive! Bringing hope to many that it can be done with more confidence. Thank you.” – Course review

3. International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

The British Council predicts that the number of people actively learning English worldwide is set to exceed 1.9 billion by 2020. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) measures the language proficiency of people who want to study or work where English is used as a language of communication. It uses a nine-band scale to clearly identify levels of proficiency, from non-user (band score 1) through to expert (band score 9). This exam is accepted for migration to several countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The test was designed to avoid cultural bias and accept all standard varieties of native-speaker English, including North American, British, Australian and New Zealand English.

Courses like Mastering IELTS Writing: Task 1 (General Training) and Mastering IELTS Speaking: The Express Course can help your employees prepare for these tests. These courses both focus specifically on IELTS examiners’ criteria, aiming to help learners make rapid improvements to their scores. Instructor Matt Rainsbury has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and has been teaching English as a foreign language since 2008. Before teaching online, Matt helped hundreds of students around the world to achieve their IELTS goals.

“This is an excellent course. The presenter delivery is clear and the strategies easily applied. I must say, now I have a precise understanding of how the letter with be graded and where to focus my practice.” – Course review

4. Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence has been linked to work performance—according to research presented in Emotional Intelligence 2.0, authors Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves found that 90% of top performers have high emotional intelligence or “EQ.” And on the other end of the spectrum, only 20% of bottom performers are high in EQ. As Bradberry says, “You can be a top performer without emotional intelligence, but the chances are slim.” One of the key aspects of emotional intelligence is understanding how emotions affect judgments, decisions, behavior, and interactions.

In Be Intelligent about your Emotions, Leaders and Managers!, learners are introduced to research and studies done on human emotions in a range of fields such as psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and behavioral science. This is especially valuable to managers and leaders, but anyone who’s hoping to be smarter about their emotions and social skills will get something out of the course. Instructor Sivakami is an experienced business leader with nearly two decades of rich experience, in large multinational corporations like Microsoft and Verizon. Note that this course is intended to provide a foundation of knowledge from psychology and neuroscience and does not help learners calculate their personal EQ.

“The content is both sequenced and paced well, with clear explanations and examples. The slides are well designed and heighten my learning as I both listen and read. I knew nothing about this topic but am being guided to a better understanding of myself, my reactions, and responses to others and to life experiences.” – Course review

5. Marketo

The role of the modern marketer has expanded. In the past, a marketer might have only been responsible for coming up with the concept for a campaign and enlisting the help of others to execute it and measure its performance. Now, thanks to more than 6,000 marketing tools that are available—and an increased emphasis that many employers place on personal productivity—many more of these tasks fall under the marketer’s responsibility.

Marketers no longer have to do every process manually—there are now hundreds of tools available that automate many of the most common marketing tasks. In order to be successful in their roles, marketers must become adept at using these automation tools. Marketo, one of the most prevalent marketing automation tools, enables marketers to do everything from build landing pages and send emails to capture data about leads and their interactions with a website over time.

Marketo for Managers is designed for the busy manager or executive who wants conversational fluency in Marketo, not a technical certificate. The course covers the essential elements of Marketo, the principles of healthy systems, and the reports that can help a manager evaluate their current system. By the end of the course, learners will know exactly where to focus their resources to optimize their system and how to fill in for an admin when they leave.

Instructor Steven Moody is a Marketo consultant based in San Francisco. Since 2008, he has worked with Marketo instances, helping dozens of clients and new admins use best practices and tackle complex edge cases.

“As a beginner to Marketo, this course gave me the knowledge I need to better understand reporting and Marketo terminology. I now feel confident in creating and sharing reports.” – Course review