Over 60,000 people in Bangladesh acquire digital skills during Covid-19

Microsoft Corporation has recently announced that it has helped over 30 million people in 249 countries and territories gain access to digital skills, of which over 60,000 of them are from Bangladesh. 

From laid-off factory workers to retail associates and truck drivers, millions of people have turned to online learning courses from GitHub, LinkedIn, and Microsoft during the pandemic to help prepare for and secure the most in-demand roles, including customer service projects management and data analysis, reads a press release on Thursday.

The announcement 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. 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. 

Afif Mohamed Ali, country managing director of Microsoft Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, and Nepal, said, "It has become vital for individuals to learn and improve their set of skills that will help them emerge stronger in the post-pandemic world. Thus, we have collaborated with LinkedIn to double our efforts to support the development of a more inclusive skill-based labor market, to create more alternatives, greater flexibility, and access learning paths to connect more people with new job opportunities."

LinkedIn plans to help 250,000 companies globally make skills-based hires this year through new and existing hiring products. The company will provide both new ways for job seekers to demonstrate their skills and new tools for employers to connect to candidates based on their skill proficiencies including, LinkedIn Skills Path, LinkedIn profile features, and LinkedIn Skills Graph.  

Olivier Legrand, managing director and vice-president, Asia Pacific & China, LinkedIn said, "More and more, we are seeing skills-based hiring becoming critical in our world of work. We've seen people across the globe express a desire to learn and build their skills, and organizations too, are hiring based on skills instead of traditional qualifications. LinkedIn, together with Microsoft, are committed to helping everyone shift towards a skills-based economy."

As part of the initiative, Microsoft has worked closely with its nonprofit partners to provide wrap-around support with coaching, mentoring, and networking to nearly 6 million learners worldwide. Microsoft will apply these lessons more broadly and is announcing a new online service, Career Connector, that will provide 50,000 job seekers worldwide with the opportunity to secure a tech-enabled job over the next three years. It will focus on learners who have built skills via Microsoft's nonprofit and learning partners, emphasizing women and underrepresented minorities in technology.