Amazon in the summer of 2019 announced a sweeping five-year plan to bolster the skills of a third of its US workforce—close to 100,000 worker-learners. The plan includes apprenticeships, partnerships with local community colleges, and internal programs. As Amazon’s Vice President of Workforce Development, Ardine Williams, notes, the initiative isn’t philanthropy. She argues that Amazon’s investment in training workers—even if some ultimately leave for higher-paying jobs—makes good business sense.

Unpacking Amazon’s workforce development strategy

Artificial intelligence. Robotics. The Gig Economy. Globalization. The world is changing at a dizzying pace in ways that will have a profound effect on the economy, jobs and the flow of talent. How will firms cope with the changes ahead and what steps do they need to take today? Each episode features faculty from the world’s leading business school interviewing CEOs, technologists and experts on the bleeding edge discussing how to survive and thrive by managing the future of work.

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WGU President Scott Pulsipher returns to the podcast for an update on the online institution’s mission to extend the reach of skill-oriented instruction. The HBS grad argues that the focus on competency rather than credit hours democratizes college access and economic opportunity. 

Western Governors University:  Pursuing the network effects of competency based education

 Managing the Future of Work co-chair Joe Fuller joins  Colorado State University's  Jocelyn Hittle to discuss his work on the Managing the Future of Work project and the Harvard Project on Workforce and to consider broader workforce trends. 

Guest Appearance: Joe Fuller on CSU's Spur of the Moment

 As the digital economy pushes companies to prioritize continuous learning,  HR strategies need to emphasize customization, flexibility, and support for diverse work-life needs.  

IBM CHRO Nickle LaMoreaux on AI and the culture of skills building

AI's potential is tempered by the need for reliability and consistency in financial intelligence. How is Morningstar adopting the technology, upskilling its 10,000-strong global workforce, and competing for talent? Also, factoring sustainability and workforce strategy in ratings and risk analysis.

Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor: How AI can raise the investment IQ

Chief Caregiver Officer, Kelly Hancock, on filling key roles when talent is scarce; fostering careers in increasingly stressful occupations; how to make skills-based hiring work; the benefits of diversity; and how AI is altering jobs and HR.

Unpacking Amazon’s workforce development strategy

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