Microsoft launches initiative to address unemployment crisis
- Daniel Teo
Microsoft has announced a global skills initiative to equip 25 million people worldwide with digital skills and prepare them for new job opportunities in the post-COVID-19 economy.
The pandemic has led to widespread unemployment across the world. But as economies start to reopen and recover in the coming months, there’s an urgent need for workers who have been retrenched to be equipped with digital skills in order to acquire new jobs.
To help people get ready for the new digital economy, the new initiative will combine existing and new resources by providing free access to content in LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, and the GitHub Learning Lab. It also couples these with Microsoft Certifications and LinkedIn job seeking tools.
The initiative will be grounded in three areas of activity:
- The use of data to identify in-demand jobs and the skills needed to fill them
- Free access to learning paths and content to help people develop the skills these positions require
- Low-cost certifications and free job-seeking tools to help people who develop these skills pursue new jobs
Besides helping job seekers, employees will also need to skill and reskill through their careers. To support that, Microsoft is developing a new learning app in Microsoft Teams to help employers upskill new and existing employees.
This will bring together best in class content from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, third-party training providers, and a company’s own learning content and make it all available in a place where employees can easily learn in the flow of their work.
“Every person needs digital skills to succeed in our increasingly technology-driven economy. As an organization that plays a key role in transforming society though the development of new technologies, Microsoft has a responsibility to help bring everyone into the digital future, “ said Ahmed Mazhari, President, Microsoft Asia.
“We are committed to driving inclusive recovery in Asia region by working alongside non-profts and governments to help job seekers gain the skills required to succeed in the post-COVID-19 economy,” he added.
