Microsoft Corp on Tuesday announced a new global skills initiative aimed at bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year.
Microsoft Corp on Tuesday 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. Expanded access to digital skills is an important step in accelerating economic recovery, especially for the people hardest hit by job losses, the company said in a blog post.
“COVID-19 has created both public health as well as an economic crisis. 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,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a webcast.
He added that it’s been forecasted 800 million people need to learn new skills for their jobs by 2030.
“COVID-19 has made the skills gap even more acute. It’s exacerbating economic inequity. People of colour, people with disabilities, women, early in career workers in those who have less formal education are bearing the brunt of this unemployment crisis. For those who still have jobs, it’s changing not only how they work, but what they work on,” Nadella said.
Source: Financial Express
