Banco Santander and Coursera’s Santander | Skills for Work programme has opened 50,000 further places on its online courses for people who wish to learn about artificial intelligence, data analysis, leadership, marketing, innovation, and other areas. These places add to the 50,000 released in August.
This initiative is open to anyone over the age of 18 in 12 designated countries. They don’t have to be a customer of the bank or have a university degree. Registration is on the Santander Open Academy website.
This programme comes just as the fast adoption of artificial intelligence and digitalization are increasing the need to learn new job skills. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, by 2030 59% of the global workforce will require critical upskilling or reskilling to stay competitive. The report also highlights the skills gaps and lack of talent that companies in several regions across the world have identified.
“In an ever-changing labour market, lifelong learning is key for people to take on new skills and adapt to future opportunities. Alongside Banco Santander, we want to bolster access to flexible, quality training that enables thousands of people to learn the most in-demand skills, obtain official certificates and become more employable, regardless of their background.”
Anthony Salcito
VP and General Manager of Enterprise at Coursera
“According to our Tomorrow’s skills report, 81% of the people surveyed feel the need to continue broadening their skill set, though cost and a lack of time remain the biggest barriers. If we want lifelong learning to shift from an aim to reality, we have to remove those barriers, which is exactly what we’re striving for with Coursera”, said Victoria Zuasti, Global Head of Programmes and Content at Santander Universities, Banco Santander.
The catalogue combines short courses of 1-2 hours with longer programmes for those who wish to delve deeper into specific subjects.
Beneficiaries can complete as many courses as they want and adapt them to their needs and availability. They will receive an official Coursera certificate at the end of each one.
With this latest release, Banco Santander and Coursera are strengthening their partnership to make high-quality training accessible to a wider audience and to help professionals from a range of backgrounds pick up the skills they need to meet the demands of a constantly changing labour market.