A free programme, designed to support students through the pandemic, is still going strong four years later and has seen 27,000 students from over 1,500 institutions worldwide complete it since 2020.
With the pandemic further widening the gap between education and work, global learning leader Development Beyond Learning (DBL) and a leading provider of virtual job simulations Forage partnered up to launch a temporary solution in 2020 and the virtual Work Ready Skills Programme was born.
A Student-Endorsed Career Confidence Solution
Fast forward to 2024 and a thank-you message from a student – who credited the programme as a game-changer for their career development, confidence, and skills—revealed that the free programme continues to gain in popularity.
“We’re delighted that the programme still serves the global student community, four years on. We hope that more students will take advantage of its existence and successfully complete it before they embark on their future pathways,” comments Pete Humphreys, CEO of DBL.
The free programme helps students gain essential soft skills before their employment application and interview processes so that they are equipped to meet the standards expected when transitioning from education into the workplace.
Bringing the skills gap
“When the pandemic hit, we recognised the urgent need to support young people and launched our Work Ready Skills Programme. The industry and our clients appreciated our positive contribution to the wider student talent population,” says Pete.
“As businesses adapted to the new normal, we were delighted to see the programme not only persist but flourish and the recent thank-you message confirms it’s still making a significant impact on our young workforce.” added Pete.
Students around the world continue to actively enrol and complete the programme with an impressive average rating of 4.5 out of 5 which is high by self-enrolled digital learning standards.
Gen Z is a generation that thrives on adaptability, digital fluency, and social awareness. However, one of the biggest gaps businesses face is in developing the expected essential soft skills that no AI can replace.
“The success of the programme, which is beyond our expectations, underpins our drive to relaunch Work Ready Skills Programme on a broader scale. We’d like to collaborate with governmental bodies and educational institutions so that even more students can benefit from these vital skills,” concludes Pete.
This ongoing success story proves that the early talent needs support in order to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. As we adapt to a hybrid working world shaped by Covid-19, fostering resilience and adaptability in students is more important than ever.
