Breaking the Language Glass Ceiling: How Amazon Career Choice Propels Careers and Changes Lives through Language Learning

Amazon Career Choice is a pioneer program in frontline language learning.
See how Amazon Career Choice and goFLUENT worked together to upskill the frontline and break the glass ceiling for all employees.

As an immigrant, Ramonita found it challenging to converse in English. She felt limited in her work and interactions due to her lack of English proficiency. 

Starting a career with Amazon as a fulfillment center associate opened the possibility of joining an English language course. From previous experience, Ramonita knew how difficult it is to balance studying a new language with working full-time. Still, she decided to explore Amazon’s learning benefit program and see how a specially designed learning program could improve her day-to-day communications.

Ramonita’s situation is not uncommon. A KFF survey showed that about 53% of immigrants face difficulties receiving equal pay and other opportunities at work. In many cases, this disparity in benefits is often attributed to the need for more English proficiency.

The uneven distribution of training initiatives for frontline workers exacerbates the inequality. In 2020, the Center for Policy and Economic Research found that immigrants are overrepresented in frontline positions. Immigrants working on the frontlines are becoming underutilized as companies fail to recognize their merits or support their learning. Because of this, English as a Second Language (ESL) is even more imperative to bridge this gap.

As one of the many companies with an immigrant workforce, Amazon understands the opportunity gap and how it can be detrimental to employees. The multinational e-commerce company believes employee diversity is vital to success and has pioneered a development initiative to help foster this diversity.

Amazon’s Career Choice program is an education benefit available to more than 750,000 hourly employees across 14 countries. Its mission is to equip employees with skills that can help them propel their careers at Amazon or elsewhere.

Like Ramonita, many associates need help finding the time to study during their shifts and receiving the necessary support to sign up for classes. Career Choice is set up to address this directly.

What sets the Career Choice program apart is its benefit for employees and it is fully funded by the company. This means there is no out-of-pocket expense when signing up for any course, which can be a huge barrier.

Jeff Bulanda, PhD, Senior Manager of Amazon Career Choice, understands the issues that hinder learning for the frontline. He lists flexibility and financial resources as two main concerns that Career Choice resolves.

Career Choice offerings include an English Language Learning (ELL) program. The ELL program is invaluable for helping immigrants like Ramonita, who may face challenges integrating into their team and fully assuming their roles because of limited proficiency. English enhances communication skills, builds career and educational credentials, and creates confidence in the workplace.

“We want our learners to move beyond the English language programs based on their career aspirations,” Bulanda says. English language classes are available in the United States and 13 other countries where Career Choice is present.

Career Choice also recognizes that the majority of their learners have specific needs. To maximize the impact of its learning program, Amazon sought to find a language learning provider that understands their goal of meeting learners where they are, and this is part of goFLUENT´s expertise.

Career Choice maintains a global partner network of over 600 schools globally to implement educational paths and certifications for enrollees. They look for institutions that can meet the learning needs of Amazon employees and can adjust their teaching strategy based on reports and data gathered from enrollees.

The exact requirement applies to choosing a language learning provider. In addition to being able to answer learner pain points, Career Choice wanted to work with a provider that could provide innovative and scalable solutions, foster community building, and deliver results. Most importantly, they seek a provider that aligns with their leadership principles.

Like Career Choice, goFLUENT aims to help employees succeed through upskilling. goFLUENT believes that every company with a frontline population needs to have a tailored upskilling program in place and that democratizing language learning is the key to an empowered global workforce.

Upon establishing a partnership in 2022, Career Choice and goFLUENT worked together to achieve a major goal: to break the language glass ceiling. With the help of goFLUENT’s flexible and hyper-personalized solutions, Career Choice launched a frontline learning initiative to empower all learners regardless of their background, schedule, or goal.

The goFLUENT ELL program is a three-month course through Career Choice. Associates are assigned to an advisor to walk them through all the available learning features. Mentoring starts from day one, and the Amazon employee is guided throughout their journey until they earn their proficiency certification or decide to shift to a different learning track.

Uniquely designed for frontline needs, the ELL curriculum can be tailored to meet different employee objectives. Career Choice and goFLUENT ensure that lessons can accommodate changing shifts and that employees can learn English without needing company email addresses. 

The realities of frontline workers―around-the-clock shifts, deskless setups, and on-the-go schedules―are all taken into consideration. To ensure that lessons are always accessible, Career Choice and goFLUENT utilized popular messaging apps to nurture learner engagement and prepared mentoring sessions that can occur on weekends, evenings, mornings, and even off-hours.

“Everything about the program is really designed around the individual,”’ John Ambrose, goFLUENT President, explains. 

While the learners have always been the driving force behind ELL, Career Choice also prioritizes the use of data. Career Choice sets performance indicators to track learner progress. These indicators help Career Choice determine if learners are getting to the point where they need to be to achieve their individual goals. Aside from learner progress, data is also valuable in adjusting strategies. Career Choice and goFLUENT continuously receive and study learner feedback to understand factors such as program duration and lesson structure.

The ELL program had been a direct response to employee demand, and its release encouraged enrollment and participation. Regarding the numbers, Bulanda states, “We’ve heard loud and clear in terms of employees really valuing the Career Choice benefit. The growth has been phenomenal.”

Aside from the influx of enrollees, Career Choice saw a growth in communication and collaboration among their associates thanks to its ELL program with goFLUENT. 

This communication boost is evident for Ramonita. Before signing up for Career Choice, she struggled to schedule time to improve her language skills. Since the ELL course is available online, she could easily study in her free time while working with advisors who understood what areas of improvement she needed to concentrate on.

Ramonita now finds it much easier to communicate with her coworkers and supervisors and use devices like the radios in the fulfillment center. She feels confident that she has the skills to advance in her career.

Career Choice and goFLUENT found that eliminating barriers to learning makes a huge difference in program execution and engagement. Career Choice continues to be prepaid and voluntary for all eligible employees. This democratization ensures high rates of employee participation and commitment. 

By removing barriers like tuition fees, Career Choice meets their employees wherever they are in their career or learning journey without the added reimbursement responsibility.

On the business side, Career Choice found that introducing language training increased employee satisfaction and retention and was an impactful tool for attracting individuals who are considering working with the company.

Learning management is also a crucial factor for the program’s success. In the two years of ELL implementation, Career Choice learned that:

• Structure is key. Creating structured learning environments for learners is essential for course completion. This includes using a job-relevant curriculum and setting clear learning goals and expectations. A set learning track and close supervision from a Learning Adviser ensure that employees won’t get lost during their studies.
  
• Metrics matter. Analyzing data points helps identify problems in the learning approach and formulate solutions. Regular data gathering and reporting help Career Choice decision-makers stay ahead of trends and adjust to employees’ needs.
  
• Individualization sets learning in motion. Adapting the program to each learner keeps them motivated and engaged. By simplifying access through mobile devices, Career Choice eliminated difficulties for its associates and kept them committed to their training.

Career Choice plans to use the insights above to continue raising the bar for frontline upskilling and further improve how they implement the ELL program. 

At its heart, Career Choice is about delivering learning and development for all employees, especially those on the frontline. Its experience with frontline language learning through its partnership with goFLUENT showed that breaking the language ceiling is not only doable but is also transformational. goFLUENT’s ELL program with Career Choice proves that equal voice starts with the frontline, and the direction is from the bottom up.