Microsoft and Linkedin will help Millions of People Upgrade their Digital Knowledge for a Post-Covid
Updated: Apr 15, 2021
With millions of people across the world losing their jobs during the CoVid19 Pandemic – there is no better time than now, to take advantage of the many programmes available to upgrade and learn new skills relevant to the new normal.
Microsoft, together with Linkedin, promised to work closely together to bring updated digital skills to 25 million people globally.
In a blog post, Microsoft said:
This initiative will bring together every part of our company, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub, and Microsoft. It will be grounded in three 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.
At its heart, this is a comprehensive technology initiative that will build on data and digital technology. It starts with data on jobs and skills from the LinkedIn Economic Graph. It provides free access to content in LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, and the GitHub Learning Lab, and couples these with Microsoft Certifications and LinkedIn job seeking tools.
In addition, Microsoft is backing the effort with $20 million in cash grants to help nonprofit organizations worldwide assist the people who need it most.
Microsoft also encourages companies to help employees to learn new skills.
Our vision is a connected “system of learning” that helps empower everyone to pursue lifelong learning. That is why we are also announcing today 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.
Microsoft will also work with government agencies closely, by providing necessary data, and analytics, so they can better assess local economic needs.
According to Microsoft calculations, global unemployment in 2020 may reach a quarter of a billion people.
COVID-19 has provoked a massive demand shock, setting off job losses that far exceed the scale of the Great Recession a decade ago. The world will need a broad economic recovery that will require in part the development of new skills among a substantial part of the global workforce.