- Government, educational institutions, and global tech company’s leaders gather to explore the challenges and opportunities of realizing diversity and inclusion in the Korean IT industry with youth
- Trends in fostering global learning and innovation culture and new initiatives to help women enter digital jobs were shared
- Brad Smith, “Increasing the number of women in the global tech sector is a priority.”
Microsoft and the Ministry of Employment and Labor held an event today to discuss diversity and inclusion in the domestic IT industry with young Koreans.
The event was organized under the theme of “Empowering Women for Career in Tech” to bring together leaders from the government, women’s education institutions (Sookmyung Women’s University), and a global tech company to share insights on challenges and opportunities to realize diversity and inclusion in the IT industry and related job fields.
About 30 young people who are participating in Microsoft’s digital skills courses attended the event. The attendees included participants from “Women@Security” with the Korea Foundation for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET), “AI School” with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, “Empowerment Program” of Jump, a non-profit social venture supported by Microsoft, and recently held “Career Mentoring Day”.
On this day, Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, Ji Eun Lee, CEO of Microsoft Korea, Jung Sik Lee, Minister of Employment and Labor, Yoon Keum Jang, President of Sookmyung Women’s University interacted with future IT talents to understand their concerns and encourage their growth and challenges. Young people spent time sharing their concerns about their careers in a relaxed atmosphere and explored the benefits and new opportunities that realizing diversity and inclusion will bring.
“It was both helpful and inspiring to learn more about the challenges and opportunities for women in the Korean IT sector,” said Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft. “Increasing the number of women in the global tech sector is a priority. Conversations like this are important for all of us to make progress.”
During the event that lasted for about an hour, global trends in fostering a learning and innovative culture to support more comprehensive and diverse career development were shared. In addition, new initiatives to help women enter digital jobs were introduced.
Through the ‘Skills for Jobs’ initiative, Microsoft has been conducting various activities to increase access to digital technology so that no one is left behind when it comes to entering digital jobs. In particular, Microsoft Korea has been operating AI School since last year by participating in the K-digital training project of the Ministry of Employment and Labor. In addition, Microsoft is expanding cooperation to practice diversity and inclusion values by participating in the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s youth work experience support project and hosting a Career Mentoring Day.
“Today’s event brought Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, to Korea to interact with young people participating in the Ministry of Employment and Labor and Microsoft’s digital talent training programs. The event is expected to be beneficial, especially in addressing the challenges faced by female talent who aspire to develop careers in the IT industry,” said Jung Sik Lee, Minister of Employment and Labor. “The government will actively support young people by providing more growth opportunities based on voluntary participation of companies like Microsoft today, thereby helping them reach new heights.”
“Microsoft has been leading activities to practice a corporate culture of diversity and inclusion through various collaborations with the Ministry of Employment and Labor,” said Ji Eun Lee, CEO of Microsoft Korea. “We will continue to do our best to ensure that future talents in the Korean IT industry are fully supported in their career development and create an environment where they can challenge themselves and grow without prejudice.”
