10 Things You Need to Know about Microsoft’s Global Skills Initiative

I’m very proud to work for Microsoft, particularly now. Yesterday we announced a major Global Skills Initiative to address the mismatch between peoples’ skills and the available jobs in our fast-changing world, particularly in these times of disruption. This is a problem seemingly beyond the ability of any one organization to solve, but we’re attacking it head-on with a clear plan that will align with our mission statement of empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Although you can find the entire Microsoft Blog post about the initiative here, I wanted to share what I view as the top 10 takeaways from this hugely impactful announcement.

1.      Powered by Graph

One of Microsoft’s strategic differentiators is its ability – as a “Big Data” owner and custodian – to leverage AI and analytical tools to find trends and patterns in this data. Microsoft Graph has long powered Office 365 with insights – I have personally taken advantage of these analytical tools for the past years. Now, Microsoft is bringing that approach to employment and skills data in the LinkedIn Economic Graph, which aligns data on members, companies, jobs, skills and schools to create a digital representation of the global economy. Much like Office Graph, the LinkedIn Economic Graph will yield new insights and help people, companies and governments align to maximize employment and productivity even as current conditions (the pandemic, economic disruption) and future conditions (the emergence of AI and other disruptive technologies) lead us to new and uncharted waters.

Also, as part of this initiative, LinkedIn is sharing this data free, in re-time to help governments and businesses understand trends and make better decisions. Visit LinkedIn.com/workforce to access local data across 30 countries and 150+ cities.

2.      Integrated Across Solution Stacks

Microsoft’s Global Skills Initiative is a collaborative effort that leverages not only Microsoft’s traditional technology base, but also technologies and effort from the teams of LinkedIn and GitHub, both highly strategic acquisitions by Microsoft in the past years. LinkedIn’s network provides data and strategic reach along with a toolset (LinkedIn Learning), while GitHub provides developer tools and access to the huge, open source developer community.

3.      Addresses the Shifting Job Market Opportunity

According to Microsoft, 2020 global unemployment could be as reach as 250 million people, including 21 million newly unemployed in the U.S. But this is a worldwide dilemma. Reactions by business have in many cases been swift, both in necessary reductions of headcount but also in Digital Transformation – in many cases driving companies to do in weeks what otherwise might have taken months, or years.  In this case, necessity may truly be the mother of invention. As we seem to be in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the ensuing changes in jobs and the workforce are creating a significant number of new technology jobs – yet many of those unemployed do not have the requisite skills for these (potentially) 149 million new jobs – a critical mismatch!

4.      Today’s Critical Skills (and Free Upskilling)

In its research, Microsoft has identified four critical skill areas where individuals can build key skills for the modern economy, and Microsoft is providing free access to LinkedIn Learning paths in these areas:

·      Job seeker – Finding a Job During Challenging Economic Times

·      Critical soft skills – Master In-Demand Professional Soft Skills

·      Digital transformation – Digital Transformation in Practice: Virtual Collaboration Tools

·      Allyship and inclusive conversations – Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging for All

5.      Free Skills-Based Training

Through the LinkedIn Economic Graph, Microsoft has identified 10 job roles that are in demand in our modern economy, and well poised for growth. To create more skills to fill these jobs, Microsoft has created LinkedIn Learning paths for each of these areas below, and is making them available for free through March of 2021:

·      Become a Software Developer

·      Become a Sales Representative

·      Become a Project Manager

·      Become an IT administrator (Prepare for CompTIA Network+ Certification)

·      Become a Customer Service Specialist

·      Become a Digital Marketing Specialist

·      Become IT Support / Help Desk (Prepare for the CompTIA A+ Certification)

·      Become a Data Analyst

·      Become a Financial Analyst

·      Become a Graphic Designer

In addition to this, Microsoft is drilling down through its GitHub acquisition to create developer-specific skills through the GitHub Learning Lab, a bot-based tool that uses Git repositories to reach technology skills.

6.      Discounted Certification Exams

To help job seekers achieve Microsoft certifications, Microsoft is subsidizing certification tests for those whose employment has been impacted by COVID-19, to a minimal fee of $15/test (versus the usual $100+ that third party proctoring services normally charge). This applies to the 6 “Fundamentals” exams aligned with Microsoft’s three clouds, as well as Associate-level exams.

7.      LinkedIn is #OpenToWork

To better leverage the massive network that is LinkedIn, a new feature has been launched whereby job seekers can surface their desire to seek new work (presumably, when unemployed) to tap into the LinkedIn community for connections and guidance, via a settings flag that highlights the profile. Information on this and the skills programs above can be found at opportunity.LinkedIn.com, as a landing page to find new opportunities.

8.      Not-for-Profit Community Investment

Microsoft has long been a supporter of the Not-for-Profit community worldwide, through its Tech for Social Impact program and associated software/cloud service donations and discounts, as well as grants and philanthropy. Microsoft is now doubling down on this commitment by recognizing that it cannot address the jobs/skills crisis alone to achieve global reach, and is investing an additional $20 million in grants plus technical support to a core of non-profit partners that complement Microsoft’s investments in this area.

As part of this, Microsoft will also be providing $5 million in cash grants to community not-for-profit organizations in the U.S that are led by and serve communities of color. This will help develop skills specifically for Black and African American workers, addressing racial inequalities in U.S. society.

9.      Teams Learning App

Microsoft Teams is rapidly evolving into the hub of workplace productivity and collaboration, and is a logical landing place for centralized training resources. It is also highly extensible, and to bear this out Microsoft is developing a new Teams learning app later this year to integrate learning into Teams. This will provide centralized access to content from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, customer-specific content and other content providers in a single location, where you can track progress and certifications as well as manage learning plans.

10.  New Microsoft Learning Site

Microsoft has been steadily investing in the Microsoft Learn platform, a free service to help with developing technical skills across Microsoft’s clouds and solutions. Continued investment in this platform, as well as more customized solutions for Microsoft customers, will help address the skills shortages in 2020 and beyond.

Conclusion

2020 has been a year of massive change and stress worldwide, at a business and a personal level. Under pressure, it is easy to react defensively, passively or conservatively. It is refreshing in these challenging times to see Microsoft react with such clarity and focus on an existing critical issue, which has been made worse by the combination of COVID and economic downturn, and take a leadership role in empowering all of us to achieve more.