Guild Education Explained

Guild
Former Name:Guild Education
Type:Private company
Founders:Rachel Romer and Brittany Stich
Location:Denver, Colorado
Num Employees:900 (2024)[1]

Guild, formerly known as Guild Education, is a private company headquartered in Denver, Colorado that is employed by Fortune 1000 companies to manage their education assistance benefits.[2] Guild works for corporate employer clients to facilitate direct payment for courses to education provider clients[3] and offers marketing services to the education provider clients.

History

Guild Education was founded in June 2015 by Rachel Romer and Brittany Stich.[4] [5]

In June 2021, Guild Education announced a strategic partnership with 2U,[6] where the latter company made its degree programs, courses, and bootcamp programs available to the corporations that employ Guild.[7] Google also made Google Career Certificates available to corporations that employ Guild.[8] In the same month, CNBC reported that Guild Education sought to profit from its expectation of automation increasing displacement of workers.[9]

In June 2022, Forbes and Bloomberg reported Guild's valuation at $4.4 billion.[10] [11]

In November 2022, Guild Education reduced its office space in Denver by 50 percent.[12]

In April 2023, Guild Education rebranded as Guild, and according to Fortune, added "a new career coaching product."[13]

In May 2023, Guild reduced its staff by 12%, resulting in over 150 individuals being laid off after several rounds of restructuring.[14]

In October 2023, Guild announced that it was offering training in artificial intelligence for front line workers through its education provider clients.[15]

In April 2024, Bijal Shah was named CEO.[16] In May, Guild laid off an additional quarter of its workforce, an estimated 300 workers.[17]

Business strategy

Guild Education works for large corporations and contracts with adult education providers. It offers marketing services and receives payment from schools only when students enroll.[18] The employers also get a tax break.[19]

Criticisms

In 2018, The Century Foundation contributor Kelia Washington wrote "at best, these programs are limited in their ability to meaningfully increase college access and completion, and, at worst, they can create additional barriers for employees seeking to obtain high-quality, meaningful credentials."[20]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Svaldo . Aldo . Education tech firm Guild lays off a quarter of its workforce . www.denverpost.com . 22 May 2024 . Denver Post . 29 May 2024.
  2. Web site: Managing Future Growth at an Innovative Workforce Education Startup . March 23, 2021 . Harvard Business School Working Knowledge . 26 March 2021.
  3. Web site: Berman . Jillian . Why Walmart, Disney and so many other companies are paying for their employees' college education. September 25, 2019 . . 15 March 2021.
  4. Web site: Chuang . Tamara . Guild Education's twist on college is working for cashiers, sales clerks and others who abandoned the idea of a college degree . Colorado Sun . 3 December 2018 . 25 March 2021.
  5. News: McPherson . Doug . Growth at EY winner Guild Education leads to new program, acquisition . 6 April 2021 . Denver Business Journal . October 9, 2020.
  6. Web site: McKenzie . Lindsay . 2U, Guild Tap Deeper Into Adult Education Market . . Inside Higher Education . August 1, 2021.
  7. Web site: Wan . Tony . 2U, Guild Education Partner to Expand Online Education for Adult Workers . EdSurge. February 24, 2021 . 20 March 2021.
  8. Web site: Greig . Jonathan . Google relaunching career certificates, job board and scholarship program . March 11, 2021 . . 26 March 2021.
  9. Web site: de León . Riley . CNBC Disruptor 50 Guild Education reaches $3.7 billion valuation amid labor shortage. June 2, 2021 . CNBC . 9 June 2021.
  10. Web site: McGregor . Jena . Guild Education Reaches $4.4 Billion Valuation As Labor . Forbes . 4 January 2024.
  11. Web site: Guild Education Reaches $4.4 Billion Valuation . www.bloomberg.com . 2 June 2022 . Bllomberg Technology . 4 January 2024.
  12. Web site: Tracy . Kate . Edtech unicorn drops half its office space in tallest Denver building . 12 May 2023 . Denver Business Journal.
  13. Web site: Hinchliffe . Emma . Crowley . Kinsey . 34-year-old Rachel Romer built Guild Education into one of the world's highest-valued female-founded startups. Now, she's expanding it beyond traditional 'education' . . 12 April 2023 . Yahoo Finance . 10 July 2023.
  14. Web site: Svaldi . Aldo . Denver-based education tech firm Guild eliminates 172 jobs. 26 May 2023 . 26 May 2023 . Denver Post.
  15. Web site: McGlauflin . Paige . Abrams . Joseph . An education startup used by Walmart, Hilton, and Disney wants to close the AI skills gap for frontline workers . fortune.com . Fortune . 9 December 2023.
  16. Web site: Alvarez . Alayna . Spotlight: Meet Guild's new CEO, Bijal Shah . www.axios.com . Axios . 24 April 2024.
  17. Web site: Svaldo . Aldo . Education tech firm Guild lays off a quarter of its workforce . www.denverpost.com . 22 May 2024 . Denver Post . 29 May 2024.
  18. News: Yaffe-Belany . David . How to Get Rich Sending Low-Income Workers to College . Bloomberg . 16 December 2021.
  19. Web site: Wilson . Alexandra . Class Act: This 31-Year-Old's Company Rocketed To A $1 Billion Valuation Helping Workers Get Degrees . Forbes . 31 March 2021.
  20. Web site: Washington . Kelia. October 15, 2018 . Starbucks, Walmart, and Amazon Offer "Free" College—but Read the Fine Print . tcf.org . . 23 February 2022.

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