LearnUp

About LearnUp

LearnUp operates a career management platform focused on entry-level workers, which was acquired by the global workforce solutions company ManpowerGroup in November 2016. The company was founded in 2011 by Alexis Ringwald and Kenny Ma, who served as CEO and CTO, respectively. The firm's core offering is a pre-hire skills coaching program designed to equip job seekers with necessary, role-specific skills before they are officially hired. This approach aims to improve hiring efficiency and reduce turnover for employers by ensuring candidates are prepared for their roles from day one.

The business model centers on partnering with large employers to integrate this training into their recruitment funnels. For job seekers, the platform provides online modules with interactive training based on real-world scenarios for specific, available jobs. This methodology has been shown to make candidates three times more likely to be hired quickly. Beyond recruitment, LearnUp provides ongoing virtual coaching to support employees in their career progression and uses data analysis to predict and mitigate employee turnover. By focusing on skill development at the earliest stages of employment, the company helps create a more qualified and stable workforce for its clients, which have included major corporations like Gap Inc. and AT&T.

The company gained recognition for its approach, being named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum in 2015. The acquisition by ManpowerGroup was framed as a partnership to combine LearnUp's platform with ManpowerGroup's extensive knowledge of the job market and employer needs, with the shared goal of bridging the skills gap for the American workforce.