Through the training program launched by Microsoft together with the Generation Foundation , created by McKinsey & Company in 2014, and in collaboration with the International Association of Microsoft Partners (IAMCP) and the School of Industrial Organization (EOI), 159 people between 18 and 29 years old have completed training and certification in Microsoft Azure during the past year in the autonomous communities of Madrid, Andalusia, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community. Of these, 66% have joined the job market, both in companies in the ecosystem of Microsoft technology partners and in companies from other sectors of activity.
These are the latest results of one of the initiatives that Microsoft develops to improve the employability of young people through training in a sector with such high growth potential as Cloud technology. Participants in this program do not need to have technology training or previous work experience and benefit from this qualification in digital skills completely free of charge, since it is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the companies involved.
Generation Foundation has started 8 new Azure training actions with which they hope to support 200 additional students, expanding the territorial scope to Castilla León, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands.
Closing the gap in digital talent
For Alberto Granados, president of Microsoft in Spain, “that the public and private sectors share the responsibility of training and improving digital skills in the post-COVID-19 world is essential for Spain to recover from the crisis more strongly. Only in this way will we be able to respond to the needs and opportunities of a digital transformation that is accelerating economic recovery.”
According to an IDC study for Microsoft on digital skills, 46% of Spanish companies have problems finding the digital profiles they need and 37% identify a shortage of talent in Cloud Computing technical profiles. In fact, according to data from LinkedIn, during the 2020-2025 period two million new jobs related to technology will be created in Spain, of which 315,000 will be new positions in Cloud and Data roles.
The retraining efforts of Microsoft and its partners, combined with the measures the EU is taking in favor of employment, are essential to help this rebound. Microsoft launched its first job training program in June 2020, and by March 2021, it had exceeded its original goal of reaching more than 30 million people worldwide, nearly 9 million of them in Europe.
