Microsoft is building on the success of its Global Skills Initiative, known as Skills for Jobs Programme which aims to provide learners with access to 350 new courses and easy-to-follow learning paths.
Since the Global Skills Initiative was launched in June 2020, Microsoft has helped over 80 million people access digital and foundational skills.
In Nigeria, 507,000 youth and government employees have been impacted through the global skills program, while 372,000 Nigerian youth and government employees have been trained in digital, role-based foundational and technical training.
However, what Microsoft has learned is that skills alone aren’t enough for people to get the jobs they want – especially in the most in-demand jobs. People – especially those changing careers – need to be able to show hiring managers that they have these skills.
Digital transformation has accelerated across all industries, creating new tech and tech-enabled roles and powering economic growth. The Microsoft Skills for Jobs Learning Pathways program is focused on ensuring that economic opportunity is inclusive – so job seekers around the world have access to the skills, technology, and opportunity they need to succeed in a changing economy.
The Microsoft Skills for Jobs Pathways provide people excluded from the digital economy with in-demand foundational, role-based and technical skills, certifications and connections to jobs and opportunities.
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By 2025, Microsoft will help train and certify 10 million people with new skills. Microsoft and LinkedIn will provide free access to 350 new courses and easy-to-follow learning paths, and six Career Essentials Certificates for six of the most in-demand jobs. The courses will be available in eight languages, including English and Arabic, to help job seekers showcase their skills to employers, and help them get jobs.
Microsoft is helping learners prepare for tech and tech-enabled roles with new learning paths and certificates for some of the most in-demand roles in the digital economy including Administrative Professional, Project Manager, Business Analyst, Systems Administrator, Software Developer and Data Analyst.
The company has invested not just in unlocking content but developing content for each of the career essential certificates paths to ensure it is a better fit for learners. There will be three new learning paths that set Foundational Skills: Digital Literacy & Productivity, Soft Skills and Entrepreneurship. For those learners moving to the next level after Foundational Skills, there are six career certificates available.
The courses combine the knowledge from experts in the field, Microsoft product expertise, and a purposeful building of introductory courses. All the courses are available on LinkedIn at opportunity.linkedin.com. In addition, Microsoft-developed courses are also available on Microsoft Community Training (MCT) and in downloadable format for use on other Learning Management Systems (LMS) for partners.
Microsoft is also partnering with 200 nonprofits around the world, governments, intergovernmental organizations, foundations and other private sector partners.