This is the final edition of the leadership insights series we are sharing in connection with our 2022 Transparency & Outcomes Report. These insights contextualize the importance of the data we are openly publishing and how we’re activating on our findings in 2023 and beyond.  You can read the previous editions of our insight series HERE, HERE ,HERE and HERE. 

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the challenges facing companies are more complex than ever. As the executive vice president of corporate development and head of enterprise at 2U, I have witnessed firsthand the widespread skills gap that threatens the success of companies worldwide. 

Coupled with the imminent retirement of 75 million baby boomers by 2030 and a 15% decline in the population of traditional college-aged students, employers are finding themselves in a precarious position of having to train the next generation of workers. It is clear that the urgency to fill critical roles across industries has reached a tipping point, especially as technology continues to redefine the rules of engagement. Now is the time for us to collectively reconsider and reinvest in how we prepare the workforce of the future.

The evidence overwhelmingly supports this call for action. Companies that prioritize providing internal mobility pathways boast an impressive average employee retention rate of 5.4 years—twice that of companies that do not prioritize such pathways. Reskilling has transformed from being a mere luxury to an absolute necessity. With forecasts indicating that job-required skills will undergo a significant shift of approximately 50% by 2027, there is no doubt that businesses must invest in upskilling their teams. Recognizing this imperative, trailblazing companies like Netflix have already taken the lead, collaborating closely with us to construct the workforce of tomorrow, today.

Beyond the report, this year I’m excited by our work to support these efforts by reimagining our enterprise platform to make learning across an entire organization easier and more impactful than ever. We launched a suite of tools that enable organizations to curate a program of learning, at scale, by selecting from edX's self-paced content library or our cohort-based executive education online courses. Our enterprise customers can select one of our edX for Business Academies to curate a program of learning that can be configured across an organization—from CEO to individual contributor—to drive critical career progression for employees and cultivate business critical skills across the organization. Our Academies are built from eight in-demand skill areas, including AI, sustainability, leadership, and supply chain, and configured using programs from some of the best universities and content partners in the world.