New Delhi, January 21, 2020: The pandemic year 2020 is past us but not the virus and the impact it brought into our lives is probably the biggest disruption of our lifetimes.
The impact at our workplaces was such that WFH format and other factors lead to 50% workforce choosing for Self-Development programs on digital platforms.
This  is revealed in a nationwide survey conducted by myjen.ai, an AI powered communication platform. With the growing realty of hybrid workplaces emerging as the new normal, the survey “Pivoting to the New Normal” was undertaken to comprehend the impact of pandemic on Learning and Development of professionals, their preferences and opinion.
Key findings
Self-Development programs received an tremendous uptake (50% Workforce)  
When it came to percentage of people using pandemic time for self-development, a 35% of respondents felt that more than 50% used this time for Self- Development, on the same aspect around 45% people felt that around 40% people used this time for Self-development, leading to a majority (around 80%) having voiced that more than 40% of work force used pandemic time for Self-Development.
Main Subjects Attraction for Self-Learning
About choosing the subject for Self-Learning, the main attraction for working population were led by Technical skills followed by Strategic Thinking & Innovation Skills, Social Media Marketing, Communications Skills and finally Leadership Skills in this order. In terms of specific skills, the importance of Communications Skills received a whopping 96% acceptance, to its being very important for career growth.
A Thumbs up for Digital Platforms
As direct face-to-face communications with their peers and leaders got restricted due to the pandemic, it was the digital platforms and telecom services which ran the show virtually for organizations. A majority of professions voiced that more than 50% people believe that Digital Platforms can be beneficial for self-development.
Digital Platforms- Advantages and Challenges|
Talking about advantages and challenges of Digital platforms, respondents mentioned Scale, Cost, Convenience, Self-paced and 24X7 availability as the top advantages, whereas issues like Lack of interactivity, Procrastination, Discipline, Lack of Personalization and inability to gauge learners feelings and emotions were the top challenges with the Digital platforms.
A Surprise- A good idea to have 24X7 Communications Coach
In a world, where work hours and pressure is on a high and people prefers to have their own personal time, in a surprise more than 56% respondents felt that it can be a good idea to have a 24X7 Communications Coach at their disposal, clearly indicating the growing role of Communications in our professional and personal lives.
The Survey was conducted across different cities in India and was responded to by around 350 participants. The participants included Learning & Development Heads, People Managers and other function leaders of organizations from across 30 different industries including  Education, Technology, Infrastructure, Banking, Consulting and Financial to name a few. The survey had equal representation from junior, middle and senior management.
myjen is an AI powered Coaching and Leadership Development Company. It’s coaching products use Natural Language Processing, sentiment analysis and data learning, to give the user personalized and contextual feedback. KWurd is an Email writing AI Coach Application, with useful features, an Intuitive Interface and powerful design, whereas uSpeek helps in improving spoken word from body language, word power, to voice it gives a holistic analysis, in a matter of minutes.