• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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COVID-19: Job market gains as Microsoft helps 30m people get digital skills

Why Microsoft plans to layoff 1,900 empolyees

It’s a huge plus for the job market that, amid the crippling impact of COVID-19 on households and businesses, 30 million people in 249 countries and territories were able to gain access to digital skills with the help of Microsoft Corporation.

This figure tops the country’s initial goal of 25 million last June, even as it is extending its commitment to help 250,000 companies make a skills-based hire in 2021.

The job market is a major victim of the COVID-19. At the peak of the pandemic in 2020, many workers were laid off. Many of others had their salaries slashed, leaving households in big trouble. This makes the new jobs that are in demand a big and welcome relief.

Microsoft noted in a report it launched recently that from laid- off factory workers to retail associates and truck drivers, millions of people turned to online learning courses from Github, Linkedin, and Microsoft during the pandemic.

This, it explained, was to help such people prepare for and secure the most indemand roles, including customer service, project management and data analysis.

The announcement of these jobs, detailed on the Official Microsoft Blog, builds on the company’s efforts to help people by extending through 2021 free Linkedin Learning and Microsoft Learn courses and low-cost certifications that align to 10 of the most in-demand jobs.

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The expectation is that the next stage of the initiative sets a new foundation for a skills-based economy through a suite of new tools and platforms designed to connect skilled job seekers with employers.

“Over the past year, we’ve seen the pandemic hit people who can bear it the least,” said Microsoft President, Brad Smith. “We are doubling down at Linkedin and across Microsoft with new work to support a more inclusive skills-based labour market, creating more alternatives, greater flexibility, and accessible learning paths that connect these more readily with new jobs,” he added.

Akin Banuso, country manager at Microsoft Nigeria, quotes the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as saying that the unemployment rate in the country is estimated at 33.3 percent which, according to him, could be attributed to the loss of jobs caused by the pandemic and the skills gaps required to thrive in the postCovid era.

“It is essential for the youth populace to be up-skilled with the right combination of technical and soft skills to immediately make a difference in the workplace. This can be done with programs like the Global Skilling Initiative (GSI) which has reached 30 million people worldwide.

In Nigeria, we have seen an uptake and impact numbers where over 196,000 learners have been engaged to date,” Banuso said.

Earlier this year, in ensuring everyone has the skills, knowledge, and opportunity to succeed in the digital economy in Africa, Microsoft partnered with Tech4dev and the Women Techsters Initiative.

The partnership was aimed to train 5million women across Africa by 2030 in coding and deep tech skills towards bridging the digital and technology divide between men and women as well as ensuring equal access to opportunities for all, while helping women achieve economic empowerment across Africa, including Nigeria.

Besides, the organization also partnered with the African Development Bank (AFDB) and the Nigerian government to launch the Digital Nigeria elearning Platform – a low bandwidth online tool that provides highly indemand competitive digital and entrepreneurship skills to Nigerian youth, irrespective of their location.