HR technology solutions provider SAP plans to upskill 2 million people worldwide by 2025 by providing tech learning and certification to underrepresented and underserved populations in the field of IT―and it’s free of charge.
SAP announced this week that it will partner with online learning platform provider Coursera to deliver aspiring developers free learning and development courses, offer up to 10,000 free certifications in IT disciplines and provide career advice for jobs that operate within the SAP HR ecosystem. This offering is available to anyone and is not limited to SAP clients.
The announcement highlights that employees’ desire for new skills continues amid a talent shortage and a softening economy. Research from Manpower Group found that more than 75% of companies reported talent shortages this year, and the World Economic Forum predicts that 97 million new jobs will be created by 2025.
But the number of tech positions for women and non-white employees is limited, according to SAP. Women hold just over a quarter (26%) of computing jobs and the percentage held by people of color and underserved populations is even smaller, according to an SAP news release.
Under the new partnership, Coursera launched a seven-course SAP Technology Consultant Professional Certificate that teaches aspiring developers about the SAP HR technology ecosystem. Designed for students of all backgrounds, the program does not require a college degree or industry experience, according to Coursera’s CEO Jeff Maggioncalda. It will prepare students for entry-level roles in high-demand fields, he said in a news release.
Since its launch in 2021, SAP’s learning site has taught more than 300,000 learners as they sought to develop and refine their skills, according to the company.
People moves
Construction management company Procore has named Olga Kibler as its chief people officer. She will lead Procore’s people strategy as part of its executive leadership team and report to founder, president and CEO Tooey Courtemanche. An HR veteran, Kibler worked as CPO for Five9 and as vice president of talent services for DocuSign. “With more than 20 years of experience, Olga will lead our talent organization as we expand globally and continue to build high-performing teams while delivering a remarkable candidate and employee experience,” Courtemanche said in a news release. Kibler added: “Procore is transforming the construction industry, and I’m excited to help drive the company forward by elevating and advocating for our people.”
New deal
Employee relations case management and investigations technology provider HR Acuity purchased Speakfully, an anonymous workplace reporting platform. Speakfully allows employees to voice workplace concerns and provides HR leaders with proactive data and analytics in real-time. “Creating a transparent and trusted relationship between employees and their employer has never been more critical. Speakfully is the best solution I have seen when it comes to ensuring an employee’s voice is heard when something goes wrong. This is a first and necessary step [that] companies must take … toward creating better, more inclusive workplaces,” HR Acuity CEO Deb Muller said in a news release.
Funding
Calling itself “the TikTok of workplace learning,” 5Mins raised $5.7 million “to reinvent” employee upskilling, according to a news release. 5Mins says it presents workplace learning in a “TikTok-style feed with intelligent personalization, gamification and social features” via 15,000 “bite-sized” lessons taught by more than 150 coaches and teachers. “We are building the first global learning ‘super app’ that companies of all sizes can use to upskill everyone, improve employee retention and drive innovation,” co-founder and CEO Saurav Chopra said in a news release.
Employee volunteering technology provider Goodera raised $10 million to promote virtual, hybrid and in-person volunteering experiences for employees in more than 100 countries. The solution’s technology helps employees register for and schedule volunteer projects from Goodera’s curated list of more than 50,000 nonprofits. These volunteering efforts typically support education, climate change, DEI, accessibility and other causes and include both indoor and outdoor options. “Goodera has reimagined volunteering to meet the needs of the evolving workforce. I am excited to support Goodera in this mission of engaging millions of employees in volunteering,” said Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox and an investor in Goodera, in a news release. IBM, Target, EY, Amazon and 60 Fortune 500 firms are among Goodera’s clients, the company said.
New products
AI-powered recruiting and talent acquisition provider HiringSolved unveiled a new feature, Candidate-to-Job Matching. The tool uses natural language processing to search a candidate’s experience, resume and more to highlight the best roles for them on their HiringSolved profile. It then provides each candidate with a rating of up to five stars. “Candidate-to-Job Matching removes institutional knowledge and experience roadblocks, enabling recruiters to feel confident in knowing how a candidate ranks for a role and why. In turn, recruiting teams are able to maximize data, make the candidate experience more of a priority and speed up placements,” Dave Barthel, executive vice president of sales and marketing, said in a news release.
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