Microsoft is offering free digital training to 100,000 New Zealanders who lost their jobs due to Covid-19.
File image. Photo: AFP
The software giant has partnered with the recruitment firm, Adecco, to identify gaps in New Zealand's job market so it can tailor its courses accordingly.
The announcement is part of the Microsoft's global initiative to upskill 25 million people who have found themselves out of work because of the pandemic.
Microsoft New Zealand managing director Vanessa Sorenson said the pandemic was an unprecedented event.
"The rebuild is already underway in some areas of the economy, however, we know that the skills required to fill many of these new jobs are different to the skill sets of the wider workforce.
"The digital transformation of the economy is driving demand for the tech-enabled jobs across almost every industry and with it demand for people with digital skills."
Microsoft will offer free learning courses across the Microsoft suite, LinkedIn and GitHub.
It will also help people get certified in these learning programs and provide people with free job-seeker tools to help them get hired.
Adecco New Zealand chief executive, Teresa Moore, said although reskilling could be intimidating for job seekers, it believed the services offered by Microsoft would help people in the "unpredictable post-coronavirus labour market".