While the rapidly growing technology sector is creating 120,000 new jobs each year, the European Commission has warned that in 2020, there will be a shortage of 900,000 jobs in the technology field, due to differences in demands and available skill.
These figures are a cause for concern, but we have time to work towards ensuring that the future generation of workers will be skilled enough to fill these positions.
One example of an effort to help this cause is Microsoft’s newly announced partnership with the ESIC Business and Marketing School in Spain (the country’s oldest business school), which aims to improve the training and technological skills of the school’s students and alumni, while improving their chances of acquiring jobs in the technology sector.
The Alumni 4.0 program, as it’s called, will connect students with more than 5,000 Microsoft technology partner companies as well as provide them with the best training in the latest business trends and technologies, bolstering them with the necessary skills to ensure that they have a stable future in the technology industry.
The program has already launched through a pilot scheme on ESIC’s campus in Pozuelo de Alarcón in Madrid, in collaboration with main partners Avanade, IBM / ViewNext, Neoris and Prodware. In the coming months, both the business school and Microsoft also plan to extend the programme to other campuses across Spain.
As technology continues to evolve and develop at a faster and faster pace, the future job ecosystem looks set to drastically change, with companies looking for employees in key areas such as AI, Big Data, Internet of Things, machine learning, intelligent cloud, bots, data analysis and more. Through schemes such as this, we can help ensure that more and more people will be ready for the technology-powered fourth industrial revolution.
According to Felipe Llano, Deputy Director at the Directorate General of ESIC “The signing of this agreement with Microsoft shows that today, more than ever, technological innovation and marketing are two fundamental challenges for any company and that the combination of both represents the key to the success of companies’ competitiveness.”
“In addition, we have been experiencing a dizzying process of change in the work environment that some call the fourth industrial revolution, and this agreement will allow us to improve the training and technological skills of our students and alumni, to promote in a very positive way their incorporation into the labour market.”
For the original Spanish-language news post please visit Microsoft News Centre Spain.
