Dive Brief:
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Employment training startup LearnUp has announced it’s partnering with Gap Inc. apparel brand Old Navy.
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Old Navy will use LearnUp’s platform to train workers for jobs at all of its 350 U.S. stores.
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The agreement includes an initiative called ‘LearnUp the Ladder,’ which offers free online education on retail entry-level and management skills.
Dive Insight:
LearnUp grew out of the disruption-minded efforts of entrepreneur Alexis Ringwald, who found that even in the height of the recession, many jobs, even those that don’t require a college degree or technical expertise, were going unfilled because the skills that employers want aren’t necessarily taught anywhere.
“What I found is that people apply incessantly to a lot of places,” Ringwald told TechCrunch. “But they never hear back. They’re always unqualified. There’s no clear pathway into a job.”
The startup has systemized the kind of assistance that a young job seeker famously got from Target employees who taught him to tie his tie and to give a firm handshake.
Job seekers can take modules that provide guidance on using copying machines and other skills that no one thinks to teach or even mention in job ads, but that are expected on the job nevertheless.
