Amazon’s Career Choice program provides employees with skills training that leads to career advancement, whether it be in their current trajectory or an entirely new career, according to Tammy Thieman, global director of Career Choice, during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2024 Future of Work Summit.
The technology company offers the upskilling program in 14 different countries for all frontline workers, with more than 200,000 employees participating so far. It partners with more than 600 different training providers, colleges and universities across the globe, with more than 20 in Canada.
Career Choice is currently available in several key areas of study: transportation and logistics, business and administrative services, health care, mechanical industrial services and technology.
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Through the program, Amazon prepays 95 per cent of tuition in addition to reimbursing books and fees. “One of the things we continually hear about is the financial barrier to education, so we work hard to remove that with the option of prepaying education,” said Thieman. “When someone applies or enrols in Career Choice, we pay the school directly so the student doesn’t have to come up with the funds and then wait for reimbursement.”
Recognizing the difficulty of balancing a work and school schedule, the company also offers accommodations that allow people to change their schedule or reduce their hours so they can attend scheduled classes.
In addition, the program offers various modalities for students to learn. “Balancing life and work with education can be super challenging, so we offer various ways for people to engage in education. One [person might prefer to learn online] after they’ve gone to work and put the kids to bed, while others . . . actually want to sit in a classroom.”
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Amazon partnered with Gallup Inc. to survey North American workers and found more than half of respondents expressed a desire to update their skills. Two-thirds felt employers should be part of the equation in skills acquisition and expected their employer to offer skills training, with 65 per cent saying they’d take into consideration whether an employer offered them the opportunity to build new skills when evaluating a potential new job. Notably, 48 per cent of frontline employees said they’d switch to a new job if that new job offered skills training and opportunity.
“We’ve spent a lot of time listening to our employees, as well as candidates in general, to understand what it is they value most,” said Thieman. “With the current pace of technology, all the advancements taking place and the associated change, workers understand and value skills training and they’re eager to remain competitive in the marketplace by growing their capabilities.”
To measure the program’s success, Amazon takes into account each participant’s career trajectory. “We look at [whether] someone was able to successfully complete a program, how we supported them and how we helped them move to their next role. So we mainly evaluate success based on whether somebody moved into a new role, either at Amazon or if they moved to a to an employer partner that we have.”
Read more coverage of the 2024 Future of Work Summit.