The Government has launched ‘An Hour to Skill’ campaign, encouraging workers to upskill by committing an hour a week to online learning.
Launched yesterday (6th January 2021), the Government introduced ‘An Hour to Skill’ campaign as part of the Skills Toolkit, a platform which allows people to boost their skills whilst staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The campaign ultimately encourages the general public to spend one hour a week completing short online courses. Offering a multitude of courses designed to amplify an individual’s skills for specific careers, the options include coding, digital design, personal growth and wellbeing, practical maths and others.
Research cited by the Government indicates that online learning can boost earnings by up to £3640. In addition, salaries for specialised digital roles are over a third (36 per cent) higher than the average, meaning that this initiative could help employees boost their salary as well as career prospects and skills.
Gillian Keegan, Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills, said:
I’m delighted to launch An Hour to Skill and thank all of the great organisations that have joined forces to help boost the nation’s skills and job prospects at such an important time for our economy.
Progressing your learning doesn’t have to be a mammoth task – spending just one hour a week on a free online course can make a real difference to your earning potential. We’re confident that learning through The Skills Toolkit can give you the skills employers are looking for.
Various companies have supported the initiative through providing their own courses on the platform including the Open University, Google, Microsoft, Lloyd’s Bank, Accenture, Amazon and FutureLearn.
Professor Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor at The Open University said:
We’re pleased to share relevant, high-quality, free OpenLearn courses via The Skills Toolkit. All courses have appeal across the spectrum, with opportunities for all regardless of age, life stage or prior level of learning. Using our world leading expertise and capability in online teaching, our short courses are imaginatively designed to inform and educate in a time-sensitive way.
We hope people continue to benefit from their skill-boosting content and for employers to back them too. We know that for many these free courses have been a lifeline in these difficult times and can provide a stepping-stone to more formal learning.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
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