‘Big Four’ PwC is launching a Blockchain Course for 1000 Staff to Meet Clients Needs
One of the worlds ‘Big four‘ professional services firms, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is launching digital training programs for its employees, within which PwC is launching a blockchain course to boost knowledge and meet its clients needs.
Set to begin in January, the two-year digital skills course, entitled “Digital Accelerators”, will train 1,000 employees on everything from cleansing data and drones, to blockchain technology and 3D printing.
Digital talent leader at PwC and head of the program, Sarah McEneaney explained that PwC clients expect things more digitally in order to control their costs, these courses will ensure that the PwC workforce is ready for the future. McEneaney stated:
“It just seems table stakes at this point that people should have more technology skills. It’s needed for us to remain competitive and to be responsive for what our clients are also going through.”
Since 2014, PwC has been actively growing its digital services, working with clients across industries, delivering their media strategy and more. McEneaney highlighted that selected employees’ responsibilities will be on client work that is focused digitally, which she added is a “new role” for them.
The global firm rolled out applications for the program back in March, which saw approximately 3,500 employees out of 46,000 of its nationwide staff apply for a spot, which also required them to sign a two-year contract stating their commitment to the program.
PwC have selected 1000 employees, with more than 10 percent of these working directly with clients in the marketing consulting space, of which 16 work specifically on PwC’s own marketing and sales teams, as it endeavours to digitise their approach.
Successful participants will be re-directed to focus on digital innovation including blockchain, irrespective of their previous role, with access to regular courses both onsite and virtually for training.
The intermediate-to-advanced Digital Accelerator courses consists of three focus areas, with data, analytics and blockchain technology in the first, drones, augmented reality, and cybersecurity in the second, followed by AI and machine learning in the third.
PwC have stated that training its workforce with new digital skills is one of the largest single investment areas for the company this year.
Research has shown that 42 percent of the top 50 universities in the U.S. now offer at least one blockchain course, with Edinburgh University leading the way in the UK, as expertise in this nascent technology is becoming a highly-sought-after skill among employers in a plethora of industries.
PwC have also been investing in blockchain startups, such as VeChain a China-based company that specialises in blockchain supply chain management. Further to this, much like other enterprises it has joined a number of consortiums, as per a previous BCTech Report, all of the ‘big four’ joined a Taiwanese banking consortium to trial a revolutionary blockchain financial reporting service in Asia.
