At the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, school closures were a necessary measure to slow down the spread of the virus. Yet, the move put both families and educators in difficult situations. In the United States, staffing firm Kelly Education stepped up to provide relief to both families in need of teachers for their children and teachers who are missing out of income. By partnering with Moonlighting, a leading freelance platform, an innovative solution was created to reduce negative implications on career paths of future labour market entrants and on the labour market situation of many who are currently in need.
The challenge
At the beginning the Covid-19 crisis, school closures were a necessary measure to slow down the spread of the virus. While crucial from a public health perspective, this step left many students without access to quality education, hindering their future success probability on the labour market. With more than 100,000 U.S. public and private schools closed or providing e-learning classes in April 2020, families across the country were seeking new ways to support and continue their children’s learning process.
Simultaneously, many of educators employed by Kelly Education, a branch of global staffing company Kelly and a leading provider of teaching talent, found themselves without income during this phase of the crisis as the need for substitutes teaches drastically declined when schools closed.
Solution
Kelly Education partnered with Moonlighting, a leading freelance platform focused on helping independent workers, to connect families to a talented pool of teachers serving as virtual tutors. As part of its commitment to helping people find work during challenging times, Moonlighting waived all fees for teachers using its services.
The process for matching teachers and tutors with families was quick and easy:
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Families created and posted a tutor request, specifying criteria such as topics, grade level, and hourly rates.
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Based on criteria entered, Moonlighting showed teacher profiles relevant to the parent’s needs.
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Parents reviewed the results, identifed who they would like to hire, and paid online after the tutoring assignment was complete.
Key numbers
More than
20000
tutoring requests (April 2020)
Resources
Outcomes
While helping parents find much-needed instructional support, the partnership also helped Kelly Education teachers earn income while schools remained closed.