Microsoft launches digital skills acquisition initiative to help 25 million people globally

Tech giants Microsoft have launched an initiative to help 25 million people to acquire valuable digital skills in this COVID-19 period.

2020 has emerged as a year with so many challenges for nations and individuals. Many nations are in economic crisis that have left millions of individuals jobless. Despite the fact that lockdowns are being eased all over the world, there are still uncertainties on how the millions of jobless individuals will get a job. The lockdown has rendered many jobs useless as companies now see no use for them.

Easy access to valuable digital skills is crucial for survival of those rendered jobless by Coronavirus, the lower incomes people, and the underrepresented minorities.

This is why Microsoft is launching a worldwide initiative that will empower 25 million users on some valuable digital skills that will be in high demand in the post COVID-19 period.

This initiative will be grounded in three areas of activities namely

The use of data to identify in-demand jobs and the skills needed to fill them,

Free access to learning paths and content to help people develop the skills these positions require, and

Low-cost certifications and free job-seeking tools to help people who develop these skills pursue new jobs

Free Digital Skills by Microsoft

The following digital skills have been available free of charge to 25 million people globally by Microsoft. The digital skills are available free of charge until March 31 2020. Industry-recognized Microsoft Certifications are also available at a heavily discounted fee of $15. This is a huge reduction on the price of the exams that usually cost more than $100.