Providing current employees with easily accessible online upskilling helps both the worker and the company, according to David Blake, co-founder and CEO of Learn In.

Businesses purchase the Learn In tech platform to gain access to vetted learning programs, affording employees the opportunity to gain targeted, in-demand skills without leaving their jobs.

Employer tuition assistance opportunities typically have a 3%-5% participation rate, says Blake. “You could take that as evidence that people don’t really care, but really what we believe is that it means there are barriers between most employees and their ability to engage in participate in these programs.”

Blake continues, “The biggest barrier is time. And the crazy thing about it is companies appreciate they need to upscale, and they are spending truly millions of dollars, often buying content, developing content, often just creating programs where they will subsidize or pay for, or reimburse education. And then they give zero time. And that is a crazy irony that they are willing to spend millions of hard cash dollars, but not willing to spend any soft time to let people upskill.”

Blake says Learn In is working to help companies understand the return on investment when it comes to growing their employees by teaching them new skills.

Click here to learn more about Learn In.

WorkingNation—a collaborating partner of the ASU+GSV Summit—talked with Blake in San Diego as part of our #WorkingNationOverheard social media series.

Hear from more innovators in education and tech in the public, private, and nonprofit spheres attending the ASU+GSV Summit 2021 here.

Follow the conversation on social media: #asugsvsummit #workingnationoverheard