Microsoft, LinkedIn bring digital skills needed for global economy amid pandemic

Microsoft and LinkedIn have announced a new global skills initiative with the goal of bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year.

The online business-employment service will launch 10 LinkedIn Learning paths available for free. These are aligned to jobs that are in-demand in today’s economy and are well-positioned to continue to grow in the future, and identified as having the greatest number of job openings, have had steady growth over the past four years, pay a livable wage, and require skills that can be learned online.

The 10 role-based learning paths are software developer, sales representative, project manager, IT administrator, customer service specialist, digital marketer, IT support/help desk, data analyst, financial analyst and graphic designer.

These learning paths can be useful in the top hiring industries in the Philippines, which, as of April and May 2020, are led by hardware and networking, construction, consumer goods and finance.

Based on volume in April and May 2020, the top job title was software engineer.

LinkedIn has also seen a strong acceleration in the need for soft skills and will make four learning paths — focused on helping professionals come up to speed on these skills — available for free: job seeker, critical soft skills, digital transformation, and allyship and inclusive conversations.

In addition, LinkedIn will launch the other features on its platform to help job seekers – #OpenToWork, Offer Help and Interview Prep, which includes a newly launched feature leveraging Microsoft-AI for real-time feedback on answers.

Policymakers and the public can search and download data on which companies are hiring, what jobs are available, and what skills are needed in over 180 countries and regions around the world using a new interactive tool from its Economic Graph’s Labour Market Insights.