2026+职业技能报告+Job+Skills+Report

2026

Insightsonthefastest-growingjob

skillsforbusiness,government,and

educationleaders

01

02

03

04

05

Tableofcontents

Foreword3

01

Introduction4

Chartingthe2026skillslandscape5

Howtoreadthisreport6

Executivesummary7

02

Careerareatrends9

Data10

IT14

Software&productdevelopment18

03

GenAItrends22

GenAI:Across-functionalcompetency23

04

Conclusion28

Askills-firstapproachtoanAI-drivenera29

05

Appendix30

Industryskilltrends31

Regionalskilltrends36

Learner-typeskilltrends39

Methodology41

Endnotes44

courseraJobSkillsReport20262

01

02

03

04

05

Foreword

Thepaceatwhichpeopledevelopnewskillshasbecomethepaceatwhichthelabormarketchanges.

Lastyear,weallexperiencedtheunprecedentedaccelerationdrivenbygenerativeAI.In2026,thataccelerationisthebaseline.AIisreshapinghowwework,howwemakedecisions,andhowwedeveloptheskillsneededtostaycompetitive.

Forleadersacrossbusiness,government,andeducation,thistransformationpresentsarealchallenge.Butwithinthosechallengesisanextraordinaryopportunity.

ThedominantnarrativearoundAIhasoften

focusedonautomation.Thedatapaintsa

different,morenuancedpicture:onedefinedbybothaugmentationandautomation.Arecent

Anthropicreportfoundthatwhile47%ofAI

interactionsonClaudeinvolveaugmentation—

collaboratingwithhumanstoenhancecapabilities

andreasoning—49%involveautomation,wheretasksareentirelydelegatedtomachines.1

Thissignalsafundamentalshiftinhowwork

isdivided.Moreandmore,wewillneedto

determinewhichtaskstooffloadcompletelytoautonomousagentsandwhichtoelevatethroughhuman-machinecollaboration.

ButthispartnershipwithAIisnotinevitable.Itrequiresnewskills—developedatspeedand

scale.Ourresearchshowsthat88%ofleaders

believetheirplannedAIinvestmentswillfail

withoutaparallel,aggressiveinvestmentin

training.2Employeesfeelthisgapacutely:Nearlyhalfsaythey’rereceivingmoderateorless

supporttobuildtheAIskillstheyneed,evenas48%ranktrainingasthesinglemostimportantfactorforsuccessfulAIadoption.3

LearnersareturningtoCourseratobridgethisdivide.We’renowseeing14enrollmentsperminuteinourcatalogofmorethan1,000

generativeAIcourses,upfromeightperminutelastyear.Infact,generativeAIisnowthemostin-demandskillinCoursera’shistory.

Withdatafrommillionsoflearnersacross

nearly7,000enterprisecustomers,wehavea

uniquewindowintotheskillsorganizations

areprioritizingforreal-worldworkforce

development.Thisyear,weanalyzedthesetrendsthroughthelensofthreein-demandcareer

areasthatareincreasinglyshapedbyAI—Data,IT,andSoftware&ProductDevelopment—alongwiththegenerativeAIskillsthatarebecomingessentialforeveryone,regardlessofjobrole.

Werecognizethatdifferentcareerpathshave

uniqueskillrequirements.That’swhywearesofocusedonprovidingdata-backed,role-basedlearningsolutions,suchasSkillsTracks,enablingorganizationstotargettheprecisecompetenciestheirworkforceneedtodriveimpact.

Acrosseveryfieldweexamined,aclearpatternemerges:LearnersarelayeringnewAIskills

likenaturallanguageprocessingontopof

foundationaltechnicalskillssuchasSQLand

JSON.Atthesametime,they’redoublingdownonbuildinguniquelyhumanskills,likecriticalthinking,toguide,validate,andresponsibly

deploythisnewtechnology.

Whatfollowsisadata-drivenguidetotheskillsyourteams,students,andcitizenswillneedmostintheyearahead.Ihopethisreporthelpsyou

navigatethepathforwardwithclarity—soyoucanlead,adapt,andthriveinaworldwhereskillschangefasterthanever.

AnthonySalcito

EnterpriseGM,Coursera

C

ourseraJobSkillsReport20263

01

02

03

04

05

01

Introduction

JobSkillsReport2026|Introduction4

01

02

03

04

05

courseraJobSkillsReport2026|Introduction5

Chartingthe2026skillslandscape

Thefastest-growingjobskillshighlightedin

thisreportprovidedirectionfororganizationsseekingtoaligntheirlearningprogramswiththemosturgentprioritiesoftheglobalworkforce.Byunderstandingandaddressingthesetrends,organizationscanenablecareersuccessfor

theirpeoplewhilesimultaneouslydriving

retention,readiness,andoverallimpactinanever-changingworld.

Thisyear’sreportanalyzesskilltrendsthroughanewlens,focusingonthreein-demand

careerareasthataredrivingvalueand

innovation—Data,IT,andSoftware&Product

Development—andtheroleofAIinaugmentingandautomatinghowtasksareperformedacrossthesefields.Wealsoexamineacross-cutting

competencythathasbecomeessentialtonearlyeveryjobrole:generativeAI(GenAI).

Howtoapplythesefindings

Businessleaders

Usetheseinsightstobuildrole-

basedlearningprogramsthatretaintoptalentandclosecriticalskills

gaps,ensuringyourworkforcecandriveinnovationandadapttorapidtechnologicalchange.

Governmentleaders

Leveragethisdatatodesigntargetedworkforcedevelopmentinitiativesthatequipbothjobseekersandcivilservantswithrelevant,in-demandskills,fosteringeconomicresilienceandclosingthedigitaldivide.

Highereducationleaders

Integratethesehigh-demandskills

directlyintoacademiccurriculato

booststudentemployability,ensuringgraduatesentertheworkforcewiththespecificcompetenciesemployersarehiringfortoday.

01

02

03

04

05

courseraJobSkillsReport2026|Introduction6

Howtoreadthisreport

TheJobSkillsReport2026identifiesthis

year’sfastest-growingskillsbydrawingondatafromsixmillionenterpriselearners

accessingCourserathroughnearly7,000organizations,includingbusinesses,highereducationinstitutions,andgovernments.

Theseenterpriselearnersprovideastrongbasisforidentifyingkeyskilltrendsthatareindicativeofbroadershiftsacrossourglobalbaseofover191millionlearners.

Outofmorethan1,000granularskills,thefastest-growingarethosethatareseeingthegreatestnumberofenrollmentsbetween2023

and2025andthebiggestincreaseintheiroverallenrollmentrankingduringthisperiod.Thisapproachcapturesbothrapidgrowthand

projectedpopularity,ensuringtheidentifiedskillsarebothtrendingandhighlyrelevant.

Furthermore,thisyear’smethodologyfiltersoutproprietaryskills

associatedwithaparticulartechnologyprovidertofocusondurable,transferablecompetenciesrelevanttoanyprofessional.

Whoareenterpriselearners?

Jobseekers

Students

Employees

Supportof

publicsector

agencies

Universities

Companiesor

publicsector

agencies

“Enterprise”learnersincludeemployeesengagingwithCoursera

throughtheircompanyorpublicsectoragency;jobseekerspursuinglearningonCourserathroughthesupportofpublicsectoragencies;andstudentsaccessingCourserathroughtheiruniversity.

Whycareerareas?

Inthisyear’sJobSkillsReport,we’vemovedfrombroaddomainstospecificcareerareastoprovideyouwith

moreactionabledata.Insteadofgeneral“Technology”trends,younowgetspecificinsightsrelatedtolearnersinvestinginIT,Software&ProductDevelopment,andDatafields—andGenAI,morebroadly.

01

02

03

04

05

courseraJobSkillsReport2026|Introduction7

1

Executivesummary

LayeringAI

knowledgeontopoftechnicalfoundations

Acrosscareerareas,learnersareinvestingin

foundationaltechnologieslikeSQL,JSON,andWebApplications—whichremainindispensableformanagingexistinginfrastructure—while

activelylayeringonnewAIcompetencies.ThisAIlayerisdrivingarapidconvergenceofroles:CoremachinelearningskillslikeUnsupervisedLearningarenowthefastest-growingskillsforlearnersintheSoftware&ProductDevelopmentcohort,whilelearnersintheDatacohortare

investinginMultimodalPromptstointerfacewithAImodels.Whetherupskillingaworkforceorupdatinguniversitycurricula,leadersshouldinvestindevelopingbothAIproficiencyand

provenfoundationalskillsamonglearners.

2

Criticalthinkingandvalidationskillsascore

competencies

AsAIautomatestechnicaltasks,humanskillsgrowmorevaluable.Forinstance,“human-in-the-loop”skillslikeDebuggingappearasatop10skillforITlearners,whiletheDatacohort

showsover100%year-over-yeargrowthinDataQuality(+108%)andDataCleansing(+103%).

Thisdemandforvalidationskillsisalsodrivingthestaggeringyear-over-yeargrowthinCriticalThinkingenrollmentsacrossallcohorts:

+168%forData,+101%forSoftware&Product

Development,+91%forIT,and+185%forGenAIlearners.Asworkersmovefromcollaborating

withAItodelegatingentiretaskstoit,thehumanroleisshiftingfromcollaboratortocritical

validatorofthefinaloutput.

3

AIproficiencyisnowessentialfornontechnicalroles

Amongallenterpriselearners,regardless

offunctionorsector,enrollmentsinGenAI

haveincreasedby234%year-over-year.The

demandforAI-relatedskillsextendsfarbeyondengineeringandIT.The#1fastest-growingskillamonglearnerswhoarespecificallyinterestedinGenAIskillsdevelopmentisContentCreation.Thisiscomplementedbyskillsthatenablemoresophisticatedcreativeoutputs,suchasImageAnalysis(#4)andMultimodalPrompts(#8).

Organizationsshouldexpandrole-specificAI

trainingbeyondtechnicallearnerstoempowernontechnicallearners—likethoseassociatedwithmarketing,sales,andoperationsteams—withtheskillstoexecuteAI-augmentedworkflows.

AIsparksamindsetshiftso

significantthatitcannolongerlivesolelywithintechnicalteams.Totrulytransformaworkforce,everyfunctionmustbuildthe

skillstoworkconfidentlywithAItools.That’showwedemocratizeinnovationacrosstheenterprise.

MattSanchez

ChiefOperatingOfficer,Yahoo

01

02

03

04

05

courseraJobSkillsReport2026|Introduction8

Thegovernance

4mandate

TherapiddeploymentofAIhaselevated

governanceandsecurityfromnicheconcerns

tocoreoperationalrequirements.Thisis

reflectedinlearnerdemand,withResponsible

AI,InformationPrivacy,andCybersecurityall

emergingastop10fastest-growingskillsacrosstechnicalcareerareas.Thisurgencyisdrivenbyanew,high-stakesregulatoryandthreatlandscape.

Leadersmustembedresponsibilityandsecurityskillsdirectlyintotechnicallearningpathsto

empowerdevelopersasthefirstlineofdefenseagainstregulatoryandreputationalrisk.

5

Thegrowthofverifiedcredentials

Employersandjobseekersareincreasinglyinvestinginverifiedcredentialstoensurethatdevelopedskillsarevisibleandtrusted.

EnrollmentsinProfessionalCertificateshave

increasedbyanaverageof91%acrossallcareerareasanalyzedinthisreport.Thisdramatic

growthspeakstoamarketdemandforagile,industry-recognizedmicro-credentialsthatprovideverifiableproofofskillsmastery.

Additionalresearchvalidatesthedemandfor

trustworthylearning:96%ofemployersagreethatmicro-credentialsstrengthenacandidate’sjob

application,andnearlyninein10studentsbelievethey’llhelpthemsucceedintheirjob.4Atatimeofrapidskillsturnoverwheretraditionaldegreescannotalwayssignalreal-timecapability,leadersshoulduseverifiablemicro-credentialstovalidatejobreadiness,fast-trackhiring,andfacilitate

internalmobility.

6

ThenarrowingofthegendergapintechandGenAItraining

Acrossthethreetechnicalcareerareasanalyzed,thepercentageofenterpriseenrollmentsfromwomenincreasedfrom2023to2025,withData

movingfrom32%to35%,ITfrom29%to32%,andSoftware&ProductDevelopmentfrom

30%to33%.

GenAI-relatedenrollmentsamongwomen

enterpriselearnersincreasedfrom36%in2024to41%in2025,asignificantfive-pointjump.Thissignalsthattheaccessibilityandcross-functionalrelevanceofGenAImaybeapowerfulforceforbuildingamoreequitableworkforce.We’ve

seenthatwomenhave6xgreaterenrollmentsinbeginner-levelGenAIcourses,andthatcontentfeaturingfemaleinstructors,likethe

Google

AIEssentialscourse

,enrollstensofthousandsmorewomenthantheaverage.5Byprioritizingaccessible,high-qualityAIupskillingprograms,leaderscantapintoadiversetalentpoolandaccelerateinclusiveeconomicgrowthwhile

closingthegendergapintechnicalleadership.

Weseeourselvesasbridges

betweenlearningandopportunity.Byaligningdegreeswith

workforceneedsandembeddingindustrycredentialsintothe

curriculum,wehelpstudentsmoveconfidentlyfromtheclassroom

intocareersinaneconomy

shapedbyautomationandAI.

Dr.ShondaGibson

SeniorAssociateViceChancellorandChiefTransformationOfficer,TheTexasA&MUniversitySystem

01

02

03

04

05

02

Careerareatrends

JobSkillsReport2026|Careerareatrends9

01

02

03

04

05

courseraJobSkillsReport2026|Careerareatrends10

Data

Artificialintelligencehas

fundamentallyalteredthedataprofessionallandscape,fueledbyanincreasingvolumeof

data,theneedtopersonalizeconsumerexperiences,andthecriticaldemandtosafeguardsensitiveinformation.

Thishastranslatedintounprecedenteddemandfordatarolesandtheskillsneededforthem.BigDataSpecialistrolesareprojectedtosee113%growththrough2030,makingthemthefastest-growingjobglobally.AIandMachineLearningSpecialistsfollowwith82%growth,whileDataAnalystandScientistrolesareexpectedto

growby41%.6

Keyinsights

managementandanalysis

1AIasakeypartnerindata

Theskillsdatarevealsapriorityshiftfromdirectlymanipulatingdatabasestoskillfullymanaging

andanalyzingtheAIlayersthatsitatopthem.

Thisisevidencedbythetop-rankedskillsfor

thiscareerarea:MultimodalPromptsisthe#1

fastest-growingskill,withPromptEngineeringat#4andNaturalLanguageProcessingat#7.Thisfocusonthehuman-AIinterfaceisreiteratedbyamassive188%year-over-yeargrowthinGenAIenrollmentsamonglearnersinvestingindata

expertise,alongside107%growthinAutomation,177%inPytorch,and466%growthinNatural

LanguageToolkit.

Thesetrendingskillsreflectamajortechnologicalshift.MultimodalAI,whichprocessestext,

images,andotherdatatypessimultaneously,

israpidlyadvancing.Gartnerprojectsthat40%ofgenerativeAIsolutionswillbemultimodal

by2027,upfromjust1%in2023.7Thisrequiresprofessionalswhocancrafteffectivepromptsacrossdifferentmodalities,askillnowcentraltothedatarole.

2tnian

AsAIautomatesroutineanalyticaltasks,thevalueofhumancognitiveskillshasescalated.

CriticalThinkingisthe#2fastest-growingskillforlearnersintheDatacohort,withanextraordinary168%year-over-yearenrollmentgrowth.This

trendisreinforcedbymassivegrowthinrelatedhuman-ledvalidationskills.EnrollmentsinDataQuality—theprocessofensuringdataiscorrectandconsistent—grewby108%year-over-year,

whileDataCleansing—theprocessofidentifyingandcorrectingerrors—grewby103%.Thisall

pointstothegrowingimportanceofData-Driven

Responsibleinnovationrequires

responsibleinnovatorsandaworkforcefluentinethicaldecision-making.As

organizationsdelegatedecisionsto

AIagents,governanceisthemethod

bywhichjudgmentandresponsibilityarescaled.The

EthicalUseofAIAgents

andAgenticAIcourse

empowers

professionalstoidentifypotentialrisksandexercisejudgmentwherenecessarytomaximizetheeffective,human

centereduseofAIagents.

ReggieTownsend

VicePresident,DataEthics,SAS

01

02

03

04

05

courseraJobSkillsReport2026|Careerareatrends11

Decision-Making(up126%year-over-year),

whereprofessionalsapplyjudgmenttoturnrawdataintostrategicinsights.

A2025MicrosoftResearchstudyfoundthat

GenAIshiftsthenatureofcriticalthinking

towardinformationverificationandresponse

integration.8AsAIautomatesanalysis,the

abilitytovalidatethisoutputhasbecomean

increasinglyimportanthumanskill.Thedata

professional’sroleisevolvingintothatofa

high-levelauditor,responsibleforspotting

flawedassumptionsandapplyingthecontextualbusinessunderstandingthatmachineslack.

nonnegotiablerequirement

3Datagovernanceasa

TherapiddeploymentofAIhascreatedan

urgentneedforrobustgovernanceframeworks.ResponsibleAI(#6)andInformationPrivacy(#9)haveemergedasthetop10fastest-growingskills,indicatingashiftfromgovernanceasanichelegalconcerntoacoreoperationalrequirementfor

datateams.

Thisdemandissparkedbyanew,complex

regulatorylandscape.Withover120countries

implementinginternationaldataprivacylawsandgovernmentsaroundtheworldnowadoptingnewAIregulations,9professionalswhounderstand

theseframeworksareinhighdemand.Thecostofnoncomplianceissteep.OrganizationsinbreachoftheEUAIAct,forinstance,mayreceivefines

ofupto€35millionor7%ofglobalturnover10—withsimilarlystringentlegislationbeingdraftedinBrazil.11

Thischallengeiscompoundedbyinternaldatasilos.Forexample,MuleSoft’s2025ConnectivityBenchmarkrevealsthatcompanieswithstrongdataintegrationachievea10.3xROIfromAI

initiatives,versusjust3.7xforthosewithpoorconnectivity,highlightingthemassivecostofisolateddata.12

Sectorspotlight

Whythismattersforyou

Businessleaders

DatasilosareakeyblockerofAIROI.Prioritizedataqualityanddataintegrationskillstoensureyourproprietarydataisclean,accessible,andreadytofuelcompetitiveAImodelsthatimprovecustomerexperience.

Governmentleaders

ResponsibleAIbeginswithsafe,secure,and

trustworthydata.UpskillcivilservantstosafelyhandleandprotectcitizendatawhileleveragingAItoimprovecitizenexperienceandmodernizeservicedelivery.

Highereducationleaders

Studentsineverymajorneeddataliteracy.

Integratedata-drivendecision-makinginto

liberalartsandbusinesscurriculatoprepare

graduatesforaworldwhereeveryroleinvolvesdatavalidation.

Dataskillsinaction

Siemens

SiemensAG,amultinationaltechnology

company,partnerswithCourseratokeep

its240,000employeesattheforefrontofthe

industry.Inparticular,SiemenshasfocusedonbuildingvitalknowledgeingenerativeAI.The

companyusedCourseraaspartofafoundationalGenAIlearningmoduleinwhichover35,000

employeesparticipated,logging229,420learninghours.

“We’veseenamajorimpactwithCourserainourmoretechnicalroles,”saysLisaLang,HeadofTalent&Organization,AmericasatSiemens.“IntheUS,AIanddataandanalyticscontentaccountsfor30%ofourusage.Leadership

developmentisaclosesecond,withabout18%ofourusageonthattopic.”

Results

•35,000+employeesparticipatedinthefoundationalGenAIlearningmodule

•553%ROIonCourseralicenses

•53%higherretentionrateforCourserausers

Readthefullstory

01

02

03

04

05

courseraJobSkillsReport2026|Careerareatrends12

Thefastest-growingdataskills

Rank

Skillname

Skilldefinition

1

MultimodalPrompts

GivinginstructionstoanAIusingacombinationofinputs,suchastextandimages,togetmoreaccurateandcontext-richresults.

2

CriticalThinking

Theprocessoflogicallyanalyzinginformation,arguments,andsituationstoformareasonedjudgmentorsolveaproblem.

3

AIPersonalization

Theuseofdatatotailorcontent,recommendations,andauser’sdigitalexperiencebasedontheirindividualbehavior.

4

PromptEngineering

Theskillofcarefullydesigningandrefininginstructions(prompts)togetthemostaccurateandusefulresponsesfromanAI.

5

ExcelFormulas

UsingmathematicalexpressionswithinExceltocalculate,manipulate,andanalyzedatainaspreadsheet.

6

ResponsibleAI

Thepracticeofdesigning,building,andusingartificialintelligenceinawaythat’sethical,fair,andbeneficialtosociety.

7

NaturalLanguageProcessing

AfieldofAIthatenablescomputerstounderstand,interpret,andgeneratehumanlanguage,bothspokenandwritten.

8

Automation

Theuseoftechnologytoperformtaskswithminimalhumanassistance,aimingtoimproveefficiencyandaccuracy.

9

InformationPrivacy

Involvesthepracticesandrulesformanagingandprotectingsensitivepersonaldatafromunauthorizedaccesswhilesecuringanindividual’srights.

10

LargeLanguageModeling

Theprocessoftraininglargeneuralnetworksonmassiveamountsoftextdatatounderstandandgeneratehumanlanguage.

Note:Thesearethefastest-growingskillsassociatedwithcontentintheDataSkillsTrack.Seethe

methodology

sectionfor

furtherinformation.

Year-over-yearenrollmenttrends

Prioritytechnicalskills

Automationenrollment

107%

Dataanalysisenrollment

89%

SQLenrollment

75%

Priorityhumanskills

Changemanagementenrollment

82%

Criticalthinkingenrollment

168%

Problem-solvingenrollment

58%

Additionaltrends

GenAIenrollment

188%

ProfessionalCertificateenrollment

97%

Proportionofenrollmentsbywomen

32%

Note:Theseskillstrendshavebeencuratedbasedonexpertinsightstocomplementthefastest-growingskillslists.

01

02

03

04

05

courseraJobSkillsReport2026|Careerareatrends13

Samplelearningpathsfordevelopingin-demanddataskills

Howtoapplyskillstrendsthroughrole-specificcurationsonCoursera

Acceleratedata-drivendecision-makingwithSkillsTracks

Equipyourlearn