Microsoft Launches Global Skills Initiative

As everyone knows, the year 2020 has emerged as one of the most challenging in our lifetimes. In just six months, the world has endured a pandemic that has spurred a global economic crisis. As societies reopen, it’s apparent that the economy will not be what it was before COVID-19. One of the things necessary to begin a safe and successful economic recovery is greater access to the digital skills required to fill new job opportunities. And one of the keys to a genuinely inclusive recovery are programs to provide easier access to digital skills for people hardest hit by job losses, including those with lower incomes, women, and underrepresented minorities.

To address this need, Microsoft is launching a Global Skills Initiative aimed at bringing increased digital skills to over 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year. This initiative will combine existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub, and Microsoft and will be centered around three primary areas of activity:

(1) The use of data to identify in-demand jobs and the skills needed to fill them.

(2) Free access to learning paths and content to help people develop the skills these positions require.

(3) Low-cost certifications and free job-seeking tools to help people who develop these skills pursue new jobs.

You can read more about the Microsoft Global Skills Initiative here.



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