{"id":119153,"date":"2021-03-30T17:10:05","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T12:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/?p=52559558"},"modified":"2021-03-30T17:10:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T12:10:05","slug":"building-a-more-inclusive-skills-based-economy-the-next-steps-for-our-global-skills-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/building-a-more-inclusive-skills-based-economy-the-next-steps-for-our-global-skills-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a more inclusive skills-based economy: The next steps for our global skills initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last summer, we launched a global skills initiative<\/a> to reach 25 million worldwide. Nine months later, we have helped more than 30 million people, learned from our projects and are ready to launch the next phase in our work. Today, I\u2019m excited to join my colleague and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky to share the details. As you\u2019ll see below, this extends our work, expands our vision and commits Microsoft and LinkedIn to a new promise to help 250,000 companies make a skills-based hire in 2021.<\/p>\n

Our plans are grounded in a vision of what is needed for a more inclusive post-pandemic recovery. COVID-19 has led to record unemployment numbers<\/a>, disrupting livelihoods of people around the world. A century ago, the United States and other governments responded to the twin crises created by the Great Depression and World War II by investing in the infrastructure and people of their time. This included not only roads and bridges, but ubiquitous access to inventions such as electricity and the telephone and the biggest educational expansion in human history.<\/p>\n

By 1970, America\u2019s high school graduation rate reached 80%, compared to 6% when the century began.[1]<\/a> Perhaps more than any other single indicator, this explains why the 20th<\/sup> century not only boosted economic productivity but distributed its benefits so broadly.<\/p>\n

The world has a similar opportunity today. A new generation of 21st<\/sup> century infrastructure calls for new investments that will broaden access to the digital devices and broadband connectivity that have become the lifeblood of commerce, healthcare and education. And it similarly calls for a renewed commitment to the education and skills that a new generation of technology has made essential for people\u2019s personal progress.<\/p>\n

While there are important similarities to the needs the world has addressed in the past, there are significant differences as well. A more diverse workforce confronts a wider array of educational needs and opportunities. Some careers require more formal education while others do not. More jobs require not wholesale retraining, but that people fill in specific gaps among their current skills. Employers and employees alike must increasingly identify and develop these skills and connect them with more dynamic and faster-moving hiring and promotion needs.<\/p>\n

This requires new initiatives and more collaboration across the public and private sectors. It\u2019s a global challenge. No government or industry can fully meet this need by itself, and the impact of any single company will be even more limited. But with LinkedIn, GitHub, Microsoft Learn and a wide array of technology that supports the digital transformation of so many enterprises, we have a broad array of digital skills resources to bring to bear. Our global skills initiative has given us new insights into the practical obstacles that people confront and new ways to overcome them.<\/p>\n

Today Ryan and I share the next skilling chapter for LinkedIn and Microsoft. This will build on what has worked best for partners and participants in our global skills initiative, extending free content and certification offerings to the end of 2021. We are doubling down at LinkedIn and across Microsoft with new work to support a more inclusive skills-based labor market, creating more alternatives, greater flexibility and accessible learning paths that connect these more readily with new jobs. And we\u2019re strengthening our work in Microsoft Philanthropies to advance digital equity through nonprofit partnerships that serve those hit the hardest by the COVID-19 downturn, including Black and African American communities in the United States.<\/p>\n

Start with what\u2019s working\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, when you pursue a global skills initiative that reaches more than 30 million people, you learn a lot yourself. There\u2019s a lot of cause for optimism, as well as some sobering reminders about the scale of work that lies ahead.<\/p>\n

The good news is that most people everywhere want to learn new digital skills. We tested this proposition last summer by providing free access on LinkedIn Learning to more than 500 online courses containing more than 950 hours of content for in-demand roles. We also connected people to Microsoft Learn for free, interactive, hands-on training on in-demand technical skills for Microsoft products and services. Finally, we provided free access to the GitHub Learning Lab and hundreds of free demonstration modules that teach technology and coding.<\/p>\n

In the eight months that followed, 30.7 million people in 249 countries and territories took advantage of these opportunities.<\/em> You can see the details in the interactive map and table below. It\u2019s not surprising that a country as large as the United States accounted for the single biggest number, with 8.1 million participants. But I wasn\u2019t expecting 91 participants from Antarctica. Digital skilling is now literally<\/em> a global phenomenon. The top 10 countries with learners in our initiative are the United States, India, Brazil, United Kingdom, Mexico, Poland, France, Germany, Canada and Spain.<\/p>\n