In the ever-expanding higher education marketplace, online and distance offerings continue gaining momentum with students, faculty, and administrators. One specific area relevant to organizations struggling to efficiently and effectively close the skills gap -- evidenced in myriad national reports -- include Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and similar non-degree, free-sourced courses.

Using data obtained from over 200 hiring managers, this presentation will discuss research supporting organizations' exploration and utilization of MOOCs and similar free-sourced, online education courses as a means of employee training and development in a quasi-outsourcing capacity. Positive implications suggest potential time and cost savings to the organization, increased employee efficacy on the job, and increased employee morale. Consequences associated with the absence of personal interaction with faculty, perceptions of academic dishonesty, and lack of communication-related development will also be discussed.

Determining and predicting the extent to which MOOCs can mitigate current workforce needs is not a primary focus of this presentation.  However, within the exploration of the topic area, extant literature and empirical research points to non-degree, online training programs as having the educational potential to increase skilled labor in many workforce sectors while filling the short-term, technology-specific training gap faced by employers.