Welcome to the Digital Age: Microsoft’s 25 million Upskill initiative
Earlier this year, Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO and Brad Smith, Microsoft President, announced an ambitious initiative to provide free resources to 25 million people worldwide who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19 in order to reskill for in-demand roles in the digital economy. The resources can be found on https://aka.ms/jobseeker which redirects to opportunity.linkedin.com. Microsoft, LinkedIn and GitHub have joined forces to provide the following the 3 pillars needed to learn a skill:
Self-guided Learning Paths
On-demand videos
On-demand labs
Users will have free access to learning content ranging from entry-level digital literacy to advanced technical roles to courses on diversity and inclusion. Extensive employer data has been gathered and highlighted, on LinkedIn, that reveals which roles are in-demand. Roles such as Digital Marketer, Project Manager, Data Analyst and Software Developer. I don’t know about you, but unless I actually can play with the technology, I tend to forget, therefore, GitHub will supply hands-on labs for learning experiences.
What will you do with all this knowledge? One thing you can do is earn a certification. The certifications are industry recognized and show employers that you persevered and EARNED the skills required for the in-demand roles. Certifications that normally cost $100 will be offered for $15 USD for people who have been unemployed or furloughed due to COVID-19.
These resources will not last forever, take a look at this graphic below to align yourself with the timelines:
Please take note of the above timelines and ensure you register and complete the exams in time.
A little bit of history about why I’m so excited and driving this message. I am an example of someone having retrained themselves to work in the tech industry. In a previous post, I mentioned that I have a degree in Graphic Design. I was working in the art field when, one day I became curious chose to buy a book and teach myself how to use SharePoint, which was, at that time, was Microsoft’s fastest selling product. By the way, SharePoint is now the back-end for Microsoft’s current fastest selling product, Microsoft Teams :)
The tech world is a fast-paced but fun world. If you enjoy constantly learning (I guarantee you’ll never be bored) and impacting the world on a large scale then take advantage of these resources and join me in the Digital Age.