The number of people who are looking to switch their career paths is on the rise, according to Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO, Coursera – which is partnered with universities and companies to give learners access to those skills.

WorkingNation sat down with Maggioncalda at the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego.

“We’re starting to see a huge trend towards further embrace of online learning by government agencies and not just in the U.S., but around the world. In the U.S., and also in Europe, the number of individuals who are deciding ‘I want a new career’ and realizing that there are good-paying jobs, if only they can get new skills is going up. The Great Resignation is certainly a phenomenon that we’ve been observing.”

Maggioncalda continues, “I like to call it the Great Upgrade – ‘I want to upgrade my skills. I want to upgrade my career. I want to upgrade my life.’  People are definitely looking for more job flexibility. A lot of what that means is remote work and they’re looking for better pay.”

Higher education needs to be better aligned with employers to make sure people have the skills needed for available jobs, says Maggioncalda. But he notes that community colleges, state universities, and labor departments at the state level are moving to improve the learning pipeline.

Learn more about Coursera.