Great Learning, one of India’s leading edtech companies for higher and professional education, today highlighted some trends witnessed by the company during the Covid -19 wave in 2020. The trends are based on the significant traction witnessed by the company across all its platforms as the demand for high-quality programs in emerging skills spiked during the pandemic.

In March 2020, Great Learning introduced the Great Learning Academy, a free learning platform with over 30 introductory and intermediate level programs in emerging digital skills, to make high-quality learning accessible to all. Close to 6.6 lakh learners have benefitted from the Academy and were able to learn the latest technology skills in areas like Analytics, Digital Marketing, Cloud Computing, Data Science and Cyber Security.

The company also announced key learning trends witnessed between March and December 2020. The trends include top programs undertaken by learners, their profiles along with geographies they belong to. The company has also provided the sector-wise and seniority wise split between learners for its top programs.

Learner profiles

41 percent of the learners on the Great Learning Academy are working professionals while 28 percent are recent graduates. The rest 31 percent are undergraduates who are keen on learning new skills even as they pursue their college curriculum. Out of the working professionals, 74 percent of registrations were from professionals below the experience of 3 years, 6 percent from professionals between 8-12 years of experience, and the rest is divided equally between mid-level (3-5 years) and professionals in leadership positions (12 years and above.) In terms of industry sectors where these professionals come from, the highest demand was seen from Engineering/ IT & related domains (52 percent), followed by BFSI (10 percent), Education (8 percent) and Manufacturing (4 percent).

 

Top beginner programs

The top five most sought after beginner programs on the Great Learning Academy are Python for Machine Learning, Introduction to Digital Marketing, Excel for Beginners, Python Programming in Hindi, and Smart English Basics for Professionals. The programs are a mix of the latest technology skills like Python and Digital Marketing as well as basic professional skills like using Excel and English language skills. Interestingly, the demand for a program on Python in Hindi was also very high, amplifying the need for technology skills to be taught in regional languages.

Top advanced programs

The top five pst graduate programs that are witnessing the highest demand at Great Learning are Data Science and Business Analytics, AI and Machine Learning, Data Science, Cloud Computing, and Design Thinking – all of them have a completion rate of over 90%. The highest demand is from professionals from the IT & Technology domains (48%), followed by BFSI, Manufacturing, and Consulting. This has been followed by equal demand from Telecom, Energy, and Healthcare & pharma sectors. 84% of the demand for upskilling was witnessed from metro cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi NCR, while the rest is from across the country.

 

Hari Krishnan Nair, Co-Founder, Great Learning said, “The Ed-tech sector as a whole has been witnessing a steady growth in the past 5 years with the adoption of online learning becoming the new normal. However, COVID-19 acted as a catalyst to push ed-tech companies like us, to ensure that we not only maintain high-quality delivery of content but also introduce new platforms and programs which help learners to power ahead. The overwhelming response that we have received for our programs, both existing and new, along with new initiatives such as Great Learning Academy and Great Learning Corporate Academy from both learners directly and organizations, made us believe that the sector is now growing at a faster pace. What gives me immense joy is to see young professionals understand the need to upskill and relearn early in their careers which will help them to be in sync with the changing nature of industries and organizations in this digital era.”