Microsoft to help 25mn people worldwide acquire new digital skills

Microsoft recently announced a new global skills initiative aimed at bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year. 

The announcement comes in response to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the pandemic has put close to 75 million people out of work.

With a labour force of close to 8.9 million, the unemployment rate in Sri Lanka increased to 5.7 percent in the first quarter of 2020, from 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 (CEIC).
Expanded access to digital skills is an important step in accelerating economic recovery, especially for the people hardest hit by job losses.

“COVID-19 has created both public health as well as an economic crisis,” said Microsoft Sri Lanka and the Maldives Country Manager Hasitha Abeywardena.

“As we move from the initial emergency response phase to the recovery phase to the reimagine phase, determining what should be rebuilt, what should be redefined, we need to ensure that no one is left behind and address the needs of those most impacted by this crisis.” 

This initiative includes immediate steps to help those looking to reskill and pursue an in-demand job and brings together every part of the company, combining the existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub and Microsoft. 

“Today, we’re bringing together resources from Microsoft, inclusive of LinkedIn and GitHub, to reimagine how people learn and apply new skills—and help 25 million people facing unemployment due to COVID-19 prepare for the jobs of the future,” he said.

These resources can be accessed at a central location, opportunity.linkedin.com and will be broadly available online in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish. 

Microsoft is backing the effort with cash grants to help non-profit organisations worldwide assist those who need it most, including people with lower income, lower educational attainment and underrepresented minorities.

Recently, Microsoft and Sarvodaya-Fusion saw to the training of 200 Youth Ministry trainers and Microsoft Innovative Education Experts in Sri Lanka. The partnership will see 150 youth participate in the Hour of Code and Make What’s Next campaign events.

The company is also pledging to make stronger data and analytics—including data from the LinkedIn Economic Graph—available to governments around the world, so they can better assess local economic needs.