How To Use Education-as-a-Service “EaaS” For A Tech Company

The tech industry suffers from a high employee turnover rate. The constantly shifting landscape and high demand for skilled labor are a breeding ground for company-hopping.

Salary matching an employee poacher is an obvious solution. Not only would it be cynical to suggest that this is the only solution, but it would also be wrong. First of all, it’s not always possible. Secondly, it’s not a sustainable method of improving employee retention.

The second most effective way to facilitate a long lasting and symbiotic relationship with employees is offering personal development programs. That’s where education-as-a-service   comes in.

Paying for your employees’ professional training makes them more likely to stay with your company. It also helps bridge the ever expanding talent gap the tech industry is experiencing.

The main benefit of EaaS over traditional, institutional education is its specificity. The student doesn’t have to attend four years of college, being made to learn things that they will never use out in the real world. EaaS courses can be custom tailored to anyone’s needs.

This article will delve into the world of EaaS and divulge on the many benefits this model can have on your company’s survival.

The Expansion of the ‘as-a-service’ model

The internet is still a fairly novel invention. New uses and applications of the world wide web are being dreamt up daily. All types of business and social interactions have somehow been influenced by it.

Education is no different.

The ‘as-a-service’ industry is expanding exponentially. Take Netflix, a content-as-a-service platform. It changed the game of visual content streaming so drastically that producers are changing their process completely. They have to, in order to comply with the new instant streaming and binging habits of consumers.

Usually, ‘XaaS’ allows consumers to remotely access software solutions that are way out of their machines’ computational reach. Things like encryption software, network management, database organization, and a massive list of otherwise cumbersome services can now be ‘rented out’ via a subscription.

So, where does education fall into this equation?

What is ‘Education-as-a-service’?

Education-as-a-service (EaaS) platforms offer on demand, cloud based courses for various skills and techniques. They usually employ a subscription based business model.

If access to information were enough for people to acquire knowledge and skills, we would have no need for universities. Libraries would be enough.

It’s simply not enough to present a student with information. They need to be guided through it in a systematic and pedagogic way. Platforms like Skillshare and Udemy are already capitalizing on this fact, with Skillshare having an estimated annual revenue of $69.3 million.

The trouble with traditional education

Going to college is a bulky affair, in both cost and scope.

The elephant in the room is the cost. A college education costs time and money (which are not exactly the same thing). Obtaining a degree requires a four year investment, at least. A computer science diploma sets you back an average of $168.000, by some estimates. This results in a very delayed ROI and battles with precarious debt for the fledgling IT specialist.

The other big problem of traditional, institutional education is its detachment from the needs of the contemporary workplace. Students squander their efforts on outdated curriculums, memorizing things they will never need or use.

EaaS bypasses both of these problems. The platforms offer customizable curriculums which hone in on specific, useful skills, usually for a fraction of the price a traditional education requires.

Tech industry talent gap

Reports on the exact number of computer science majors in the US vary in orders of magnitude. They do all agree that the number is rising, however. CS is the ‘flavor-of-the-century,’ so to speak.

Despite these growing numbers, 70% of tech industry employers experience a skill shortage.

This discrepancy can be attributed to the rapidly growing industry outpacing the educational system. But, it can also be attributed to another of its omissions – failing to instill valuable and relevant knowledge in its students.

Education as a service solves this problem directly. Tech employers can enroll their employees in various customizable courses and hone their lacking skills with precision and purpose. All this for a fraction of the price of a traditional college education, with a flexible schedule and classes that can be attended from anywhere in the world.

Course attendees can pick and choose their curriculum and earn meaningful certificates that guarantee their proficiency. It’s a win-win all around – the employee gets a valuable entry for their CV, and the employer fills the gaps in their workflow.

This brings us to the tech industry turnover rate – EaaS is a powerful tool for employee retention.

EaaS as an employee retention strategy

Turnover rate is the percentage of employees that leave a company over a specified period of time. A high turnover rate can pose significant problems. With some estimates claiming that the tech industry globally has a turnover rate of 18.3%, keeping employees on board is a daunting task.

Including the turnover rate in your company’s business planning could be a viable strategy. Turn from keeping employees on board at any cost to keeping the inevitable departures amicable. Include three to four people on each project. That way, things keep moving during transitional periods, and the onboarding process is made much easier.

Of course, the most effective way of not losing employees is giving them more money. And for certain key players, employers have no choice but to fork out the dough.

Other strategies include perks like ping pong and weekly team building soirées. Google already tried this, and the general verdict is – people don’t think that a foosball table in an indoor gym is reason enough to stay in a company.

What employees do care about, however, is personal development. Instead of investing money on forced nights out, grant your employees a couple of hours of the week to perfect their skills using an EaaS platform. Again, it’s a win-win.

Conclusion

Education as service platforms are still being perfected. You will need to separate the wheat from the chaff, as a lot of these platforms are filled with charlatans looking to make a quick buck.

Let’s quickly go over its many benefits. It’s customizable – you can control precisely which skill your employee is honing. It’s much more cost efficient than sending an employee out to a brick and mortar institution. By providing EaaS to your employees, you fix the skill gap in your company. To top it all off, a learning employee is a happy employee, an employee which is much less likely to walk out on you for a chunk of change.

So the next time your head of HR suggests another ‘Casual-Friday-bring-your-dog-to-work-day,’ opt for subscribing to an EaaS platform on behalf of your employees instead.