It’s no exaggeration to say that every job is a “tech” job nowadays, demanding everyone posses more technical skills. Even traditionally non-technical industries, like financial services, higher education, or government, are integrating technology and algorithms into their work. 

Whether you manage marketers, analysts, salespeople, product managers, or other non-technical specialists, technical skills can help prepare your team for the future. With our interactive courses and guided paths, your whole team can learn valuable technical skills like machine learning, data science, and web development.  

Our Codecademy Teams offering enables you to assign customized content to your reports and use analytics and reporting features to measure team growth. Another perk? Your team members can work through the self-guided courses at their own pace, so they can control their learning schedule and feel empowered to keep going. Start a free 14-day trial for Codecademy Teams and invite up to 25 people. Read on to explore the many benefits of having your non-technical employees learn technical skills. 

1. Provide your employees with development opportunities 

As companies continue to embrace digital transformation, the ability to use technology effectively is essential for anyone to succeed in their career. In fact, according to the National Skills Coalition, 92% of jobs today require digital skills.

As an example, whether you work in sales, marketing, project management, design or many other non-technical fields, knowing how to organize, analyze, and visualize data is one technical area that can provide more opportunities for career growth. That’s because employees who posses data analytics skills can uncover new information that helps inform decisions. 

Similarly, non-technical employees can benefit from learning basic cybersecurity skills. From managing sensitive information to using email and social media, individuals are constantly at risk of cyber threats like phishing, identity theft, and malware. Having a fundamental understanding of cybersecurity practices, such as creating strong passwords, recognizing suspicious emails, and safeguarding personal data, can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to these attacks. That’s why Codecademy offers a free Introduction to Cybersecurity course.

By providing your non-technical employees with a way to learn something new, you give them the opportunity to advance in their current roles or uncover new areas they may have an interest in, or aptitude for. When your employees have support to meet their evolving professional goals, they’re more likely to stay at your company. 

2.  Improve communication within and across teams 

Even if your non-technical team members don’t move into technical positions, technical skills can greatly enhance their current roles — especially when it comes to communication. 

When people in roles like Product Managers or Product Marketers have technical knowledge, they’re able to speak the same language as the engineers, developers, or customers they’re working with. Codecademy learner Jan Osterž started learning technical skills while working as a Product Owner at a software engineering company. His experience with product management and understanding of development principles made cross-functional collaboration a breeze: 

“This combined knowledge, much of which I acquired through Codecademy, allows me to have better technical conversations with the development lead and the developers. For example, if we get a younger developer, I can provide tips and guidance. I can suggest directions to explore… [or] recommend libraries to use. All this knowledge helps me manage and integrate both aspects of my work effectively.”  

3. Build better products 

By understanding what developers, engineers, and data scientists do, non-technical roles are in a better position to work with them to co-create solutions or products, ultimately benefiting the business. They can think through requirements more easily and better gauge what’s possible — and what’s not.

Take it from Codecademy Senior Product Designer Taylor Green, who emphasizes that folks in design-heavy roles should have a basic understanding of code. “If you can’t understand the languages or understand how to communicate with engineers, it’s definitely going to pose a barrier,” Taylor says.

For instance, when considering a possible solution to a problem in a product, you can establish realistic expectations and workloads because you are aware of the behind-the-scenes processes involved.

4. Instill confidence among your team 

For non-technical employees working alongside their technically-trained counterparts, it’s possible for a bit of impostor syndrome to creep in. Bobby Velasco learned technical skills with Codecademy and then landed his first real “tech job” as a Product Marketing Engineer, where he leveraged his new technical skills to take on more responsibilities.  

“I started doing anything I could get my hands on to get more experience. I just kept on learning and more opportunities kept getting thrown at me to do front-end engineering work, and some back-end tasks. I was hungry to get experience, and they allowed me to build the confidence and the skill set.”  

On top of the confidence boost, data suggests that filling skills gaps is one way you can help reduce stress for your entire team, according to the 2024 Skillsoft IT Skills & Salary Report. When people are overworked and lack the resources that they need to do their jobs, projects take longer, and business objectives suffer.  

5. Enhance your team’s problem-solving skills 

Research out of the World Economic Forum shows that the top skills workers need in the future are analytical and creative thinking skills. You might think of problem solving as a soft skill. Even so, it’s one that’s best practiced through learning technical skills. For example, someone with data analysis skills can quickly identify trends and insights, while a team member with coding knowledge will understand how to think like a programmer: defining a problem, breaking it down into smaller pieces, and exploring various possible solutions. 

Joshua Lange is a Research Scientist who learned Python so he could work more efficiently with large amounts of data. Once he got the hang of automating his work with one coding language, the “problem-solving way of thinking” broadened his perspective:   

“Codecademy is a really cool platform, and the impact on my job has been immense. Not only does it save time, but it also makes me think in a different way. It’s encouraged other people to start looking into it as well. I’m not old by any means, but you’re never too old to continue learning.” 

6. Prepare your organization for the jobs of tomorrow 

Generative AI significantly transformed the way we all work, and the types of skills people need to remain competitive. In Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report, the majority of leaders said they prioritize AI skills over experience when hiring candidates. It’s not just job seekers who benefit from AI proficiency: 69% of survey respondents said upskilling with AI can help get them promoted faster. 

There’s been a lot of talk about what AI advancements mean for the future of programming. The way we code is definitely shifting because of AI — in a recent survey, 97% of professional developers said they use AI coding tools in their workflow. At the same time, programming, determining instructions to give to a computer so it can execute a task, is becoming even more essential. Knowing how to craft prompts that elicit the most pertinent responses from ChatGPT and how to evaluate and interpret the chatbot’s answers technically is a form of programming. 

Equipping your employees with resources to learn and practice AI skills prepares them for the future of work. It also gives leadership a greater opportunity to fill future talent gaps internally — everyone wins! 

Unlock the benefits of tech skills for everyone 

As our world digitizes, learning technical skills isn’t just beneficial for those in dedicated technical roles. It can empower non-technical teams to advance in their roles while paying off for the business at large. 

Here at Codecademy, our online learning platform teaches technical skills in an accessible, flexible, and engaging way. Our interactive courses span dozens of languages and topics, ranging from data science to web development.  Our Codecademy for Teams offering lets you provide technical training and education to your employees. Have them try it out now with a 14-day free trial. 

This blog was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated to include new statistics and purchase information for Codecademy Teams.