Dive Brief:

• Following the hire of a Stanford University leader in learning science, Candace Thille, speculation rose that e-tail giant Amazon was moving into the e-learning space. A new report by CNBC suggests the company is looking at its cloud to build a corporate training service.
• Although the company denies any move into the online education space, job postings from Amazon since April 2017 have advertised for people who could help build a "learning platform." As recently as December, an ad for a solution architect cited an opportunity to “enable hundreds of thousands of businesses in 190 countries around the world to transform and scale their learning initiatives.”
• Representatives for the company told HR Dive recently, “[Thille] is serving as the Director of Learning Science and Engineering within our Global Learning and Development team. Her remit is to help scale and innovate workplace learning at Amazon." 

Dive Insight:

Amazon certainly could be hiring only for internal needs, as their expansion plans are extensive. In 2015, they out-hired Microsoft in new tech grads, and in 2017 they set a goal to add 1,000 MBA holders to their roster. Expansion with the HQ2 facility promises another 50,000 jobs; however, no city has yet been chosen for the new location. Their original Seattle location continues to expand, as well.

But the company is certainly not afraid to navigate new territory. Amazon is already dipping its commercial toes into the waters of the healthcare market; speaking of his company's new partnership with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos recently suggested the solution to America’s healthcare crisis could be “talented experts, a beginner’s mind and a long-term orientation.”