In this episode of Work in Progress, we’re talking about one of the many weapons in the battle for talent in the U.S. – employer-paid education benefits. Joining me in the conversation is Bijal Shah, the CEO of Guild, which delivers customized workforce and skilling solutions for companies through online and in-person courses.

Our discussion is centered around the critical need for talent development, especially in the face of rapid technological changes. “The problem that we see in the United States isn’t just a U.S. problem; it’s a global problem,” says Shah.

Analysis released by the World Economic Forum in January concludes that by 2030, 92 million jobs will be displaced. But the number of new jobs will be almost double that in the same time period. And they predict that the United States will soon face the tightest labor market in more than six decades. 

That means employers will be competing with each other for talent.

The employer-provided education benefit could be a deciding factor for a job seeker or for an employee trying to decide whether they want to stay with the company or leave.

What makes it attractive to potential and current workers? The idea that your employer is paying for you to learn important skills, which could lead to industry credentials which could lead to economic mobility.

“Accounting for the diverse needs of an employee population means offering a mix of learning programs through the education benefit: foundational learning programs (high school completion and English language learning), short-form (certificates and bootcamps), and degrees (associate’s and bachelor’s) — all suited to the needs of working adult learners,” according to Guild. 

“We optimize our learning for working adult learners,” Shah explains. “That is the population that we are most focused on. Any kind of asynchronous and online learning you can do is just really helpful when you think about the flexibility that these individuals need, when you think about the fact that they sometimes work on nights and weekends, and they don’t usually have traditional hours or traditional jobs.”

In the podcast, Shah and I discuss some of the types of training in specific industries that employers are adding to their education benefits and where she is seeing the biggest demand.

You can listen to the entire conversation here, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find our podcasts on the Work in Progress YouTube channel.

Episode 354: Bijal Shah, CEO, Guild
Host & Executive Producer: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Theme Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4
Transcript: Download the transcript for this episode here
Work in Progress Podcast: Catch up on previous episodes here