According to Pew Research, over 14 million Americans lost their jobs between February and May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When Maggie, a young professional living in Nashville, TN, was laid off from her administrative job in the early weeks of the U.S. shutdown, she became a courier for the delivery service platform Postmates to help make ends meet.
Through her work with Postmates, Maggie has been able to take advantage of learning on edX. Postmates partnered with edX For Business to offer learning opportunities as part of their Flexible Toolkit, an always available one-stop shop that aggregates services and resources for couriers. Postmates couriers find value in learning and improving their future career prospects while working–and all with the flexibility of their own schedule. Interest in this program has been especially high during the pandemic.
“Furthering my education is something I’ve always wanted to do, but taking on the additional cost was a barrier. Having Postmates advocate for me in this way has been really powerful,” Maggie said.
Postmates couriers have access to the full edX course catalog and the content they seek is diverse, from retail management to Spanish. Maggie enrolled in HarvardX’s Justice course, a philosophy and social justice course that has had some especially timely discussions looking critically at the news of today. Maggie sees learning on edX as more than just a resume builder–it’s helping her think about who the person is that she wants to be. “I’m excited that my future employer gets to meet this version of me. I’m more mentally resilient, and part of it is because of taking this course,” she said. “In a moment like this it’s been difficult to see my path forward. I’m taking the time to dial back and ask ‘who am I and what do I really want.”
Maggie is now thinking about future career options in social work, customer service, or human resources. “The mental space that this course has afforded me has allowed me to broaden my horizons and think about opportunities I hadn’t considered before,” she said.
Create Learning Opportunities for Your Workforce
Learn more about how Postmates works with edX For Business and how to build effective learning pathways for your own workforce, especially those whose jobs may be endangered as a result of technological changes, declining demand for certain skill sets, and challenges posed by the pandemic.
