SMBs can now upskill, reskill and retrain employees for free with Edcast

Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are an important asset to the global economy. The impact of the recent pandemic has far-reaching effects on small businesses, forcing them to downsize and limit spending.

This, in turn, has negatively impacted upskilling and reskilling efforts, as resources are inevitably diverted to support business survival. The good news is, SMBs can now upskill, reskill, and retrain employees for free.

In light of the economic volatility that is expected to continue into early next year, the award-winning online education platform, EdCast announced an investment of $315 million in workforce education for small and mid-sized businesses.

This initiative that will unlock organisational productivity and innovation by waiving access fees to Spark by EdCast that features access to edX courses and programmes for one year was made possible through a partnership between EdCast, global staffing agency, Adecco, the International Chamber of Commerce, and MOOC provider, edX.

CEO and Founder of EdCast, Karl Mehta said that “SMBs are struggling to adapt to the new normal, facing challenges that range from health and safety to financial to employee management,”

“By granting free access to a suite of tools that enable remote work and collaboration, EdCast and its SMB-oriented partners are pitching in to support the small business community, a critical driver of the nation’s economic success.”

Spark by EdCast is the company’s market-leading Learning Experience Platform (LXP) for SMBs, which enables remote upskilling, training, and learning programmes.

This initiative will provide access to thousands of in-demand skills and subjects associated with formal badges and certifications they can earn and share on topics ranging from cybersecurity to mindfulness.

The LXP platform can be accessed on all major digital platforms including Google Search, O365, MS Teams, GSuite, FB Workplace, Salesforce, and has been shown to drive a 20% increase in productivity.

SMBs can choose to offer their employees the opportunity to earn innovative credentials through edX, including MicroMasters® programme credentials that will be awarded after completing a series of graduate-level courses from top universities that deliver deep learning and in-demand skills to employers.

The programmes available on edX are designed to support learners at every stage and are suitable for those entering the job market, changing fields,  seeking promotions, or simply exploring new interests.

The courses available range from topics in data and computer science to leadership and communications.

The CEO of edX who is also a professor at MIT, Anant Agarwal said that the learning platform is keen on this collaboration with EdCast to help SMBs upskill, reskill and train their workforce by providing access to the highest-quality content from top institutions and in subject areas relevant to their business today and in the future.

Adecco’s Global Head of Digital Partnerships, Marcus Sawyerr, said: “Many small businesses are not able to offer the formal training and development programmes provided by larger companies to their employees. This is why Adecco partnered with EdCast to bring Spark, the company’s market-leading remote work platform for collaboration and lifelong learning to SMBs and their employees,”

“Spark provides a personalised daily feed that includes videos, courses, articles, and more, all tailored toward users’ learning and training needs to ensure they stay competitive,” he added.