Future-proof your workforce: University of Manchester’s online postgraduate courses

The World Economic Forum (WEF) reports that digitisation and automation will cause over 75 million existing jobs to be replaced. On the flipside, WEF also reports that the same transformation would create a demand for 133 million new jobs in the coming years.

The statistics send a clear message – technological advancement is increasingly displacing the need for traditional skills and replacing it with new ones.

When met with rapid technological advancement, there is only one solution for organisations hoping to stay aloft-and that is through future-proofing their workforce.

The WEF report confirms this need and reports that by 2022, at least 54% of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling.

In addition to this, employers who participated in the study also indicated readiness to prioritise and focus their reskilling and upskilling efforts on employees currently performing high-value roles as a way of strengthening the strategic capacity of their enterprises.

For the individual facing the threat of redundancy in the workplace, upskilling is an unquestionable requirement for career progression.

The good news is the wave of technological revolution is not industry-specific as the face of postgraduate education is also changing.

The impacts of these shifts are far-reaching and have revolutionised the way upskilling, and reskilling efforts are carried out.

The rise of education technology (EdTech) has shifted the way formal education is delivered and consumed. Classrooms, lectures, and traditional learning are no longer the primary options when it comes to executive education.

Realising this, institutions of higher education have taken it upon themselves to bridge the skill gaps that stand in the way of truly enhancing the workforce that will not only stay relevant but will take innovation to new heights.

And that is by offering upskilling courses through various delivery modes, including blended and online postgraduate courses.

Benefits of blended and online postgraduate courses

Blended learning is an approach that combines traditional classroom teaching and more modern online teaching and learning.

Course content will be delivered online enabling learners to set the pace of their own learning. Online learning will also include instructor-led content delivery through webinars, which facilitates virtual interaction among learners and the instructor. Learners will also attend classroom teaching sessions, that provide them with ample opportunities for face-to-face learning.

Working professionals across industries increasingly see the benefits of blended and online learning to move up the career ladder. Some of the top universities in the world are beginning to offer more flexible modes of programme delivery to meet the needs of these busy individuals.

More and more learners also realise the multitude of benefits flexible learning offers.

It not only allows the learner to gain a professional qualification from anywhere in the world but dramatically assists in career progression, as learners can maintain their careers while going through the upskilling process.

Qualified professionals appreciate the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to carry out their responsibilities effectively. Flexible learning also allows rapid upskilling, as learners can manage several skills at a time or take up courses in quick succession to achieve the desired career goal.

More and more learners are choosing online and flexible learning schemes. As work-life-balance becomes increasingly prioritised, learners tend to opt for remote learning, which gives them the flexibility and control to set their own learning pace and pathways.

Professional qualifications tend to be quite prohibitive in terms of cost as well. A student who opts for online or blended learning will find that it is a lot more cost-effective than say a full-time residential study in the UK.

Online and blended learning schemes also enable learners to participate in discussions with other learners from all over the world, where they will be able to share ideas and benefit from peer learning by building a global network of professional contacts.

More and more corporations are opting for blended and online postgraduate learning courses in providing corporate training to their people.

Companies are increasingly aware of the ineffectiveness of cookie-cutter corporate training courses due to the uniqueness of business policies, functionalities, and process requirements from one organisation to the next.

This has led to a significant shift in how leaders choose to upskill and train their workforce.

It is estimated that the corporate blended learning industry will grow by USD 23.74 billion in 2020-2024, according to the latest market research report by Technavio.

University of Manchester’s blended and online postgraduate courses

The University of Manchester is ranked the 6th best university in the UK and 27th best university in the world. It is one of UK’s leading providers of online, blended, and transnational education (OBT). The university has been offering flexible learning for over 25 years and has an established reputation for postgraduate courses, especially in the areas of health, social sciences, and management education.

The University of Manchester has an extensive global reach through its International Centres in Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore. These global hubs provide learners with an inspiring space to study and collaborate through workshops, networking events, enabling learners studying online courses to benefit from a highly interactive and personalised learning experience.

University of Manchester’s blended and online learning postgraduate courses can support businesses in upskilling and future proofing their workforce.

The University of Manchester’s MSc in Financial Management

The University of Manchester now offers a part-time, blended postgraduate course, the MSc in Financial Management. This course is delivered by one of Europe’s leading and most experienced academic teams and is suitable for professionals who want to upskill themselves for their career progression.

This degree course is on a part-time basis where course content will be delivered online, and learners will attend conferences, twice a year at the Manchester Centre. Learners may also opt to participate in workshops in Shanghai in their second year.

This flexible MSc will equip finance professionals with financial management knowledge and skills sought by organisations worldwide. This course also introduces learners to more sophisticated tools and techniques that finance practitioners regularly exploit in their profession.

Amedeo De Cesari, Course Director of MSc Financial Management, explained that the course aims to offer the notions and skills that today’s managers require and provides a starting point for a successful career in finance.

“Business decision-making has become more complex over recent decades, owing to global, long-term phenomena such as globalisation, international trade, and technological innovation. Financial managers need to rise to this challenge and equip themselves with rigorous knowledge and practical skills to make well-informed decisions and understand financial markets.” De Cesari adds.

The University of Manchester’s MSc in Real Estate

Similarly, the university also offers an MSc Real Estate, a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited blended learning course.

This fast-track conversion course will provide opportunities for learners to develop connections between knowledge and understanding while also examining legal and regulatory frameworks and property markets on an international basis.

Projects on the course allow learners to apply teachings from the course directly into real-world scenarios, delivering hands-on experience in real estate environments.

Course content is delivered online using web-enabled technology systems. Learners will have the opportunity to meet academics who teach the course, engage with the course materials, and network with peers alongside face-to-face, three-day workshops hosted twice a year in Manchester.

The MSc in Real Estate Course Director, Mark Shepherd, said: “Commercial awareness is at the heart of our course as well as developing a comprehensive understanding of the role of real estate in society, business and, particularly, to the end-user.”

Investment Analyst at British Land and current learner, Elizabeth Opeagbe said, “I currently work for one of the largest REITs in the UK, and while I learn something new here every day, having an RICS accredited degree to my name will allow me to achieve RICS status and become a part of a membership who have dedicated their careers to making changes in the property industry.”

“The course itself is excellent, not only because it’s blended but will also provide a strong stepping stone for my career. Additionally, it allows me to work around my current work schedule while providing one of the best RICS accredited degrees in the country,” Opeagbe added.

Graduates of this course have had very successful careers in the industry. One online graduate has been recruited at a major consultancy in Manchester, and several other graduates have returned to China to take up graduate positions with JLL, Colliers, CBRE, Wanda and China Road and Bridge Corporation.

If you’re looking for a career boost or to upskill your workforce with industry-leading knowledge, learn more about the university’s part time blended and online postgraduate courses by contacting a representative at studyonline@manchester.ac.uk.