LinkedIn is piloting a school to teach workers how to become their own bosses–no degree required

The job market is getting harder to break into.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported employers added just 29,000 jobs last month , below economists’ expectations of 90,000 , and more than a quarter (27.1%) of unemployed Americans have been out of work for six months or longer.

Now, LinkedIn—the platform built to help users network and find jobs—is launching a school to help workers become their own bosses.

LinkedIn started the Academy of Economic Opportunity in September, enrolling 30 LinkedIn employees in a free 14-week training program, according to a spokesperson.

Students meet three times a week to learn things like handling PR crises, making hiring decisions, and pitching investors through simulations.

Hari Srinivasan, the company’s chief product officer, told Fortune that one of the pilot cohort’s next sessions is on building an app from scratch.

As AI changes the skills employers demand and casts uncertainty over traditional career paths, LinkedIn is betting more workers will seek opportunities beyond conventional jobs.

Srinivasan wrote in an Oct.

9 LinkedIn post that the number of people putting “Founder” in their LinkedIn profiles rose nearly 23% over the past year.

“The program is focused on helping them learn how to build a business.

Not because we believe everyone should become an entrepreneur, but because people are trying new ways to find economic independence in an uncertain world,” Srinivasan wrote.

In a survey of 3,000 American adults, Intuit QuickBooks found that a third planned to start a business or side hustle this year, up from the 17% who said the same a year earlier.

And a separate survey of 1,051 new business owners last year by payroll company Gusto found that about half (51%) cited building financial stability or a future asset as a motivation for starting their businesses, up from 42% in 2024.

Srinivasan hopes to scale the Academy internationally and at an affordable price to workers outside of LinkedIn and wrote “figuring this out is integral” to the company’s mission.