Keypath Education embraced remote work to align with their work-from-anywhere global policy using coworking space.
Keypath Education is a global education technology company that helps students reskill, upskill and grow in their careers. The company does this by partnering with local universities and educational institutions to design, launch, market, and journey with potential students through an online post-graduate program.
When the pandemic hit, the courses provided by Keypath (in partnership with universities) became more relevant as they are fully online, as opposed to on-campus courses conducted by conventional education institutions.
These courses provide flexibility in the learning method and are designed to engage students and working professionals. This is made possible by in-depth market research to find out if the particular educational product is in demand. Then, the company designs the program to suit the working lifestyle of the student, who wants to upskill and reskill.
Keypath Education also embraces flexibility in working arrangements, where it is not mandatory for their employees to report to a physical office in Australia and Malaysia. This arrangement, which is implemented in the company’s global policy, works well.
Since its founding in 2014, Keypath Education has operated in North America, London, Australia, and currently Malaysia, with its headquarters located in Chicago. After 8 years in the industry, the company was listed on the Australian stock exchange.
The challenge: Setting up the Malaysia office with remote working arrangements
Keypath Education realized that the key thing to winning the market during the global crisis is to embrace flexibility and agility. That is why the company implemented a remote working policy globally, where all the employees can work from home without the need of reporting to a physical office.
Because of this, the company needed a flexible workspace – to move in quickly without a strict lease. Moreover, the Malaysia office is the first one in SEA, so “setting up operations was tricky in the middle of a pandemic. We needed to outsource a lot of the functions to a third party and to employ people and manage operations,” said Xavier Arvind David, the Head of APAC Finance & SEA Operations.
As of January 2022, Keypath Education Malaysia had 8 people working externally, with no office, no Human Resource team, and no payroll team. For that reason, “the company needed a cost-efficient and practical solution for workspace,” admitted Xavier, so the team can focus on handling business operations.
The solution: An office space that can be upscaled
Xavier discovered that WORQ can tackle all of the challenges to set up the Malaysia office. He appreciated that “when [we] were thinking about upscaling, the WORQ team was already thinking ahead with solutions.”
Moreover, as a new operating team, the Malaysia team “did not have the capabilities to run its own office, [to comply with] the Occupational Safety & Health Management policies, and [to self-provide] amenities. [We] were not ready to take it on, not familiar with the set-up of office space,” Xavier elaborated. WORQ fills in the gap by providing the company with a very clear solution to move ahead with.
The company now has set up its office in WORQ Subang, located conveniently in the UOA Business Park building, which has direct access to Subang Jaya LRT station. All Keypath Education employees can access the workspace whenever they want, thanks to the 24/7 access.
“WORQ provided options for [us] to consider for [our] future growth plan,” said Xavier. In this sense, Keypath Education views WORQ as more than just an office space provider, but also a business partner it can rely on.
”When [we] were thinking about upscaling, the WORQ team was already thinking ahead with solutions."
The result: Hassle-free office management with ample amenities
At first, Keypath Education set up a fifteen-pax private office, and then as the team grew, the capacity was upscaled to accommodate twenty people. This flexible option to upscale is something that conventional office space cannot offer.
During the setup process, Xavier found WORQ “quick to respond to our day-to-day needs from an office space perspective.” This keeps the company happy to engage with WORQ as the trusted workplace solutions partner.
Beyond that, Xavier also found that the “WORQ team is always proactive in reaching out to the company to see how WORQ can support our needs in the future (beyond the next 6 months).”
As a coworking space provider, WORQ puts focus on assistance delivery. Keypath Education feels that the front desk officer brings a vibrant and positive energy to the workspace, which is a key consideration for the company to partner with WORQ. Not to mention the cleaning officers who take care of the office cleanliness and make sure the pantry is stocked.
Despite working remotely, most Keypath Education Malaysia employees love to work from the office due to the availability of discussion and meeting rooms. This is where the collaboration happens and improves.
Key highlights
- A private, lockable office with the availability of meeting rooms and phone booths.
- WORQ membership is suitable for Keypath Education’s global policy on remote working.
- Flexibility to upscale the office space when there is a future growth plan.
- Ability to move in without having to manage the office and related policies.
- Helpful front desk officers and other staff to make sure the workspace is convenient.
