COVID 19: PAY WHAT YOU CAN STARTUP SETS AUDACIOUS GOAL

CANADIAN TRAINING COMPANY PIVOTS, OFFERS ONLINE COURSES TO 100,000 STUDENTS

TORONTO, ON – In response to COVID-19, a Canadian business skills training company has dramatically pivoted to offer 100,000 Canadians access to ‘pay what you can’ business training as they struggle to develop new skills and become marketable employees for when the economy rebounds.

“COVID-19 has been taking a real toll on us all,” said Louis Trahan, President of PayWhatYouCan.Training (PWYCT) and Last Minute Training. “Our team needed a way to get excited again and we knew we wanted to turn our efforts to doing something positive during this pandemic. We already had a wide network and knowledge of workplace training, through Last Minute Training and we married the two to create the PayWhatYouCan.Training program.”

a)    WHAT TYPES OF TRAINING IS PAYWHATYOUCANTRAINING OFFERING?

PWYCT is offering virtual instructor-led courses over a broad range of workplace skills and adding more courses every day.  The courses include software skills such as Microsoft Excel, copywriting, marketing, sales, management, remote learning, and Quickbooks training. The list is endless and ever-changing as more instructors are brought into the campaign.  All courses are taken online at PayWhatYouCan.training

b)    HOW DOES ‘’PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ WORK?

All courses are designed to be delivered in short sessions to fit in with the realities of Canadians being at home, experiencing social distancing and in tight quarters with kids and other family.  Financial contributions are voluntary and any money paid goes to support the program and the trainers.  

c)    WHAT IS THE SUGGESTED AMOUNT TO PAY FOR THE COURSE?

“We know that every Canadian is in a different financial situation during the pandemic, so we are not setting a minimum or maximum amount,” added Trahan. “We truly just want our students to contribute whatever they feel that they can at this time, even if that is one dollar or nothing at this time.”

d)    WHO IS IT PWYCT IDEAL FOR?

1. Canadians working from home that have a bit of extra time can use it to upskill.
2. Canadians who have lost their jobs who can use the time to upskill and have a better chance of getting a landing a new job.
3. Canadians who have no business or office skills that want to start a new career and round out their skill set.
4. Canadian small businesses that have training budget and can use it to upskill their workers
5. Corporations that can sponsor a private learning hub to both support the program and bring free training to their teams and other Canadians.

e) WHAT IS OUR BIG, AUDACIOUS GOAL?

PWYCT plans to reach 100,000 learners by the end of the program.

f) WHEN WILL THE PROGRAM END?

PWYCT wants the need for this program to disappear, so as soon as things start to become normal for Canadians and Canadian businesses, they will look at shutting it down. 

g) HOW CAN COMPANIES GET INVOLVED?

Companies can get involved in one of three ways: 

1. Promote the program to their employees as it is now – their employees can register for classes and be given the opportunity to contribute if they choose to.
    
2. If companies prefer employees to not be asked to contribute, they can make a corporate contribution and be given a branded learning hub of their own.
   
3. Companies who want to help members of their particular industry could sponsor an Industry track and they would get a private learning hub for members of that industry.  

h) WHAT HAPPENS TO THE FUNDS THAT ARE CONTRIBUTED?

A portion of the contributions go towards administering the program, most of the funds go back to the trainers – who are all independent contractors also feeling the economic impact of COVID.  

Trahan is also putting out a call to instructors to teach the virtual courses. PWYCT is committed to offering as many varied courses as possible. He’s also calling on the Canadian business community to help fund the initiative like existing sponsors PAVE and the Jamaican Tourism Board.

“We believe that Canadian companies will be remembered for what they do to help during the crisis and regret what they didn’t do,” added Trahan. “PWYCT is the best way that our team could give back in a practical way to help Canadians professionally displaced by the pandemic. We encourage all Canadian companies to brainstorm, pivot and find a way to help … we’re all in this together.”