In Response to Widening Skills Gap, Workers More Motivated Than Ever to Take Learning Into Their Own Hands in 2015

SAN FRANCISCO, CA and CARPINTERIA, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 8, 2015) - A recent survey conducted by online learning leader, lynda.com, discovered that 94 percent of working professionals feel more pressure than ever to know it all and that nearly 50 percent lack confidence in their current job skills. In response, many are taking their professional development into their own hands and setting ambitious learning goals for 2015 aimed at expanding skills beyond job descriptions and titles.

"In setting goals for the New Year, people are looking beyond resolutions like "lose ten pounds" to goals that truly broaden their horizons -- whether that's to gain more confidence, change careers, get organized, start their own business, or accomplish more with their hobbies and creative pursuits," said Tanya Staples, Senior VP of Content, lynda.com. "More than 80% of respondents learn skills on their own time, at home, late at night and on weekends. This shows strong motivation, dedication and commitment to making change in 2015."

The survey was conducted online with nearly 10,000 respondents and provides a view into why and how people are planning to tackle learning in the coming year. Among the highlights:

• 93 percent of respondents are very interested in learning new skills in order to gain more confidence in their jobs.
• 78 percent feel that learning new skills will be critical to their success in the coming year.
• More women (56 percent) said they feel less confident in their skills than did men (44 percent).
• More than half of respondents feel the most pressure to learn technology and software skills.
• The top five reasons people want to learn a new skill are 1) gain more confidence (2) accomplish more with their hobbies (3) get more clients and grow their business (4) start their own company (5) land a new job and start a new career (tied for 5th).
• In the New Year, respondents are most excited to take courses that focus on organization and business, time and project management, such as Getting Things Done, Overcoming Procrastination and Small Business Secrets.
• Creative professionals surveyed feel the pressure is on for them to know it all with programming, design skills and mobile topping the list as learning priorities for 2015.
• For Technology professionals, HTML5, JavaScript, Responsive Web Design, and JQuery top the list.
• For general Business professionals, Getting things Done, Project Management Fundamentals, Web Analytics and Content Marketing Fundamentals top the list.

To help people get a jump-start on their learning goals, lynda.com is offering a free 10-day trial. Sign up today at http://www.lynda.com/trial/skills-2015

About lynda.com
lynda.com is a leading online learning company that helps anyone learn business, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Through individual, corporate, academic and government subscriptions, members have access to the lynda.com video library of engaging, top-quality courses taught by recognized industry experts. The company also provides German, French and Spanish-language content under the video2brain brand name.

lynda.com was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Carpinteria, California with offices in San Francisco, London, Sydney and Graz and is funded in part by Accel Partners, Spectrum Equity and Meritech Capital Partners.

Learn more about the lynda.com story at www.lynda.com/press and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lynda.