Microsoft and LinkedIn to Bring Digital Skills Needed for the COVID-19 Economy

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.

Towards this end, LinkedIn will launch 10 LinkedIn Learning paths available for free. These Learning Paths are aligned to 10 jobs that are in-demand in today’s economy and are well-positioned to continue to grow in the future.

These 10 jobs were 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. All you need to do to get started is visit opportunity.linkedin.com to see current job opportunities and the different learning paths available. These 10 role-based learning paths are:

● Software developer – Become a Software Developer
● Sales representative – Become a Sales Representative
● Project manager – Become a Project Manager
● IT Administrator – Prepare for CompTIA Network+ Certification
● Customer service specialist – Become a Customer Service Specialist
● Digital marketer – Become a Digital Marketing Specialist
● IT support/help desk – Prepare for the CompTIA A+ Certification
● Data analyst – Become a Data Analyst
● Financial analyst – Become a Financial Analyst
● Graphic designer – Become a 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 & Networking
● Construction
● Consumer Goods
● Finance

The top job title based on volume in April and May 2020 was ‘Software Engineer’.

LinkedIn has also seen a strong acceleration in the need for soft skills and will make 4 learning paths — focused on helping professionals come up to speed on these skills — available for free:

● 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 (combination of digital fluency and remote work)
● Allyship and Inclusive Conversations – Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging for All

In addition, LinkedIn will launch the following features on its platform to help job seekers.

1. #OpenToWork – Job seekers can now indicate to employers and their network that they are ‘Open To Work’ by adding a specific photo frame to their online profile photo.

2. Offer Help: We’ve made it easier for LinkedIn members to share in a simple post that they are willing to offer a helping hand — by connecting people, reviewing resumes, or providing general job-seeking guidance — to others in their network.

3. Interview Prep: To help job seekers get through the interview phase, LinkedIn is offering free interview prep tools, including a newly launched feature leveraging Microsoft-AI for real-time feedback on answers.

To help shed light on the rapidly changing economy, LinkedIn is also making available some of its Labour Market Insights from LinkedIn’s Economic Graph. Using this new interactive tool, 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.