PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the “Big Four” accounting firms that
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the “Big Four” accounting firms that offers such services as audit, assurance, corporate finance, and legal services, among others have decided to improve the biggest asset that is their employees. PwC has a network of firms in 158 countries with more than 2,36,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. In recent news, it is launching training programs to employees on blockchain and other nascent technologies.
The beginning of a new year is a Schelling point and considering that in mind PwC has a new resolution in their mind for their employees. Starting from January, the new intermediate to advance skill building digital course, called Digital Accelerator, will train 1,000 employees on everything from drones, to blockchain, and cleansing data to 3D printing.
The skill-building digital course is set to aim so as to enhance PwC employees’ digital skills as well as cut costs for clients, thus boosting internal blockchain expertise.
Sarah McEneaney stated that
“My Job is to future-proof our workforce. It just seems table stakes at this point that people should have more technical skills. It’s needed for us to remain competitive and to be responsible for what our clients are also going through.”
The Digital Accelerator course requires to spend 10 hours per week, irrespective of their past responsibilities, for each participating employee. The program curriculum comprises three main focus areas. The first include data and analytics, which will conduct classes on collecting and cleansing data and blockchain. The second area focuses on automation, with classes on cybersecurity, additive manufacturing, drones and Augmented Reality(AR). The third is aimed towards Artificial intelligence and machine learning. Employees are also required to take coding, user experience and design thinking classes which features content from these focus areas.
In March of this year, PwC rolled out applications for all 46,000 of its nationwide employees for participation in the program, receiving 3,500 candidates. PwC then selected 1,000 employees for the program. PwC has acknowledged the growing use of additive manufacturing technologies, through its previous studies “Disruptive Manufacturing Innovations Survey” and the “3D Printing comes of age in US industrial manufacturing.” Adapting towards these new technologies, in 2014, PwC began integrating digital services with its clients. Adding to previous, McEneaney said,
“Our clients are looking at how they can transform, stay relevant and frankly stay in business and attract employees”.
The classes are designed flexibly for both onsite as well as online training and are group focused. PwC did not mention the investment but added that this is one of the largest investment for the firm this year.