The eLearning Trends that are Bridging Skills Gaps & Driving Global Success

There is an ongoing debate about whether globalisation has really expanded the world or shrunk it. One thing that is certain is that international trade continues to grow at an impressive rate.

The IMF projects a 3.5% increase in global trade volumes for 2024, which marks a significant rebound from the estimated 0.9% growth in 2023. This upward trend signals not only recovery from the disruptions caused by the pandemic but also the ongoing resilience and adaptability of global markets.

Alongside this, a recent HSBC survey reveals that businesses are becoming more optimistic about international growth. Companies across nine major economies are particularly focused on Southeast Asia, with expectations for sales in the region to increase by 23.2% in the next 12 months—up from 20.1% in the previous year. This surge in optimism reflects the rising economic power of emerging markets and the expanding opportunities for companies to access new, diverse customer bases.

Yet, as companies scale globally, challenges arise—particularly in workforce development. eLearning has emerged as a vital solution, addressing the need for scalable, multilingual training programs. Current eLearning trends, such as AI-powered content, are helping organisations equip their teams with the skills needed to thrive in international markets.

Why Staying Updated on eLearning Trends is Essential

Employees increasingly seek opportunities to upskill, with nearly half of those surveyed in PWC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2024 saying that the chance to learn new skills is a key factor in their decision to stay with or leave an employer.

The advantages of eLearning extend beyond individual growth:

• McKinsey reports that leveraging eLearning can boost team productivity by 40-60% compared to traditional methods.
• Information retention rates with eLearning reach up to 60%, significantly higher than the 8-10% seen with conventional learning approaches.
• Companies adopting eLearning have reduced training time by 40-60%, resulting in substantial cost and resource savings.

With such clear benefits and the rapid growth of the eLearning sector, businesses must stay attuned to emerging eLearning trends to maximise their potential and make sure their workforce is equipped to meet the demands of an evolving global market.

1st eLearning Trend: Addressing Skills Gaps with Upskilling

Looking beyond the immediate benefits, upskilling is a crucial strategy for addressing the growing skills gaps that many industries are facing.

As technology and global markets continue to evolve, workers need to adapt by acquiring new, often highly specialised skills. Without these investments in employee development, companies risk falling behind as their workforce becomes less equipped to meet new challenges.

This widening skills gap is not just a concern for individual businesses, but it also has significant implications for global economic productivity. According to estimates, the failure to address these skills gaps could lead to a revenue deficit of $8.5 trillion over the next decade. This is due to the loss of productivity that occurs when businesses cannot harness the full potential of their workforce or when companies struggle to fill critical roles with the right talent.

Investing in eLearning upskilling programs is not just a response to workforce challenges, it’s a strategic necessity that cannot be ignored. In 2024, some of the most common eLearning trends included:

• Data literacy and AI fluency equip employees with the ability to thrive in the digital age.
• Hybrid skill sets, blending technical knowledge with soft skills like adaptability and communication.
• Sustainability and green skills programs are gaining traction as businesses prioritise eco-conscious practices.
• Emotional intelligence training helps teams navigate workplace dynamics.
• Emerging technologies like AR/VR and blockchain brilliance are also reshaping industries, requiring targeted upskilling initiatives.

Above all, promoting a continuous learning mindset ensures employees remain adaptable in an ever-evolving global market. By leveraging these trends, businesses can bridge the skills gap, boost productivity, and seize opportunities in an increasingly competitive global market.

2nd eLearning Trend: The Role of AI in Generating and Optimising Content

AI is transforming eLearning by addressing skills gaps with unprecedented speed and efficiency. One of its key applications is content generation, where AI tools can create new eLearning materials like quizzes, simulations, and videos, saving considerable time and money. These capabilities allow businesses to rapidly scale their training programs.

AI also improves content accessibility, making eLearning inclusive for all. AI can generate transcripts of videos, provide text descriptions for images, and support learners with disabilities. Additionally, AI-driven translation tools make it easier to localise training materials for global teams, breaking language barriers and fostering collaboration across borders.

Despite their speed and scalability, AI tools have limitations. While advancements in content generation speed and accessibility are impressive, AI generated eLearning content is often reported to contain errors, lack creativity and therefore negatively impact learner engagement. With regards to AI-generated translation, AI still struggles with nuances and tone. AI-generated translations, in particular, often miss cultural subtleties, which can result in unclear or insensitive eLearning content.

To maximise the effectiveness of multilingual eLearning, businesses need to strike a balance between leveraging AI’s efficiency and maintaining the accuracy, creativity and cultural relevance of human generated eLearning. And while AI can handle basic translations quickly, human oversight remains essential to refine, review, and contextualise the content.

3rd eLearning Trend: How Global Companies are Investing in Multilingual L&D Programs

DS Smith is an international packaging company that tackled staffing challenges at its Lebanon, Indiana, facility, where external factors had led to high employee turnover. To address this, the company’s HR team adopted an innovative approach by targeting Hispanic communities and improving multilingual support throughout their recruitment and training processes.

DS Smith hired Spanish interpreters to assist with onboarding and training. This hands-on approach significantly improved communication and engagement with their new hires, increasing the Hispanic workforce from 6% to 42%. The result was not only a more cohesive workforce but also measurable business benefits, including halving the time required to fill positions and tripling production output.

This success highlights the power of  addressing language barriers in L&D programmes with culturally relevant solutions, businesses can improve workforce engagement, improve retention, and achieve operational excellence.

In an eLearning context: By breaking down language barriers, multilingual eLearning fosters better communication and collaboration across global and diverse teams. It ensures that training materials are understandable, accessible and relevant, allowing employees to fully engage with the content. Whether you’re equipping a factory team in Germany or a tech crew in India, providing access to the same high-quality training means every employee is empowered to succeed, regardless of their location or language.

AST Language Services and Multilingual eLearning Trends

In today’s connected world, creating effective eLearning for a global or diverse workforce is more important than ever. That’s where having a partnership with AST Language Services can be helpful. We localise training and eLearning materials so they resonate with diverse teams while embracing the latest eLearning trends.

Whether it’s onboarding new hires, focusing on health and safety compliance, or tackling upskilling and DEI initiatives, our multilingual eLearning solutions make training programs that are clear, inclusive, and impactful—helping organisations set their teams up for success, no matter where they are.

Visit our eLearning Localisation page to learn more and start your journey towards effective multilingual eLearning today! 

Need to develop your eLearning courses into English first? Head over to our eLearning provider partners, Marked Improvement, who can help you with that.