Microsoft has committed to helping 25 million people worldwide gain new digital skills by the end of 2020. This initiative comes in response to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the need for digital skills. Microsoft’s approach involves the use of data to identify in-demand jobs and the skills needed for them, free access to learning paths and content, and discounted certifications that provide a pathway to employment.
Microsoft, LinkedIn and GitHub are providing access to learning resources, with a focus on ten key jobs identified as having the greatest number of job openings, steady growth over the past four years, pay a liveable wage, and require skills that can be learned online. The ten jobs include roles in software development, sales representation, and IT administration.
Additionally, Microsoft is backing this effort with $20 million in cash grants to help non-profit organisations worldwide assist the people who need it most. $5 million of this will be provided in cash grants to community-based non-profit organisations led by and serving communities of colour in the United States.
In the UK specifically, Microsoft is partnering with the government to ensure everyone leaves school with basic digital skills, and to help adults who lack these skills to learn them. This includes a new online platform, ‘The Skills Toolkit’, offering free courses to help people improve their digital and numeracy skills.
Go to source article: https://news.microsoft.com/skills/