DETROIT & LOS ANGELES — December 13, 2022 — Piston Group today announced the expansion of its strategic workforce education program in partnership with InStride. Following the success of the initial launch of the Future-Ready Education Program, Piston Group has now added employer-funded graduate degrees and certificates to the program. The expansion also adds courses from Spanish-language institutions, such as Universidad Tecmilenio, to meet demand from the company’s multi-lingual employee population. 

The Piston Group’s Future-Ready Education Program offers full-time employees tuition-free access to courses towards earning high school diplomas, skills certificates, associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees.The Future-Ready Education Program was designed to include a wide variety of course offerings selected to meet employees where they are in their learning journey and career. Piston Group covers tuition upfront for eligible employees, allowing them to focus on career advancement and achievement instead of being saddled with student debt or worrying about how long tuition reimbursements might take. 

The Future-Ready Education Program was first launched in 2022 in the company’s U.S.-based plants in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Texas. It has made a measurable impact on employee engagement and retention, prompting Piston Group to increase their tuition coverage for graduate degrees and certificates. 

As one Piston employee shared in an employee survey, "The Future-Ready Education Program is flexible enough to balance school and work and has provided me with an opportunity to increase my knowledge base which in turn will benefit both myself and my employer."

“Enabling our employees to develop professionally helps them progress in their career, benefits the company through their increased skills, and it’s good for our communities,” said Piston Group CEO Gordon Fournier. “Knowledge and employment are power.”

“Workers have a lot of choice on who they work for right now. Piston Group invests in the people who make the organization the market leader it is,” said InStride CEO Vivek Sharma. “The leaders Piston Group is educating today will future-proof the company for whatever challenges may lie ahead in the manufacturing sector.”