ARMONK, N.Y., June 17, 2021 /CNW/ -- At VivaTech today,
IBM (NYSE: IBM) CEO Arvind Krishna announced a new
collaboration with 30 global organizations including governments,
community colleges, non-profits, and employment agencies, focused
on helping underserved populations improve their skills and
employability.
According to the World Economic Forum, closing the global skills
gap could add US$11.5 trillion to
global GDP by 2028, but education and training systems need to keep
pace with market demands. In addition, as reflected in a new study
from the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), job seekers are
facing big challenges, and one in four consumers surveyed globally
plan to switch employers in 2021.
"Closing the global skills gap is one of the most pressing
issues of our time," said Arvind
Krishna, IBM, Chairman and CEO. "That is why I'm proud of
these collaborations, which will help people of all backgrounds
acquire the skills they need to thrive in a fast-changing global
economy."
The collaboration spans 12 countries and includes ActionAid
Italia Onlus, The American Indian Foundation Trust, Andhra Pradesh
State Skill Development, Argencon, Bay Area Community College
Consortium (BACCC), Bruxelles Formation, Cité des Métiers, CSC
Academy, CSRBOX, Edunet Foundation, Fondazione Human Age Institute,
Fundación Konecta, Junior Achievement Americas, Junior Achievement
Italy, Laboratoria, Mission Locale de Paris, Reacha Foundation, Tata Community
Initiatives Trust, The Royal Alberta College, Technifutur®,
Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet, Training Point, Turkish Industry
& Business Association (TÜSİAD), Unnati Foundation, Uvi Jagriti
Sansthan, VetsinTech, Jeevitam-VSS Tech Solutions Pvt Ltd,
Workforce Development Inc., and 60 000 rebonds.
These organizations will leverage the online learning program
IBM SkillsBuild with their members, mostly underserved populations
such as veterans, women, minorities, refugees, and unemployed young
adults. The program is designed to empower job seekers within 3-6
months with professional workplace readiness and technical skills,
earn badges and credentials recognized by the market, in local
languages, and with personal mentoring.
In addition, ManpowerGroup, a world leading workforce solutions
company, plans to connect these job seekers to real career
opportunities. ManpowerGroup's Experis brand – global leaders in IT
resourcing - will provide data-driven insight on the tech roles
employers are seeking to fill, leveraging its experience developing
talent and connecting learners from these organizations to
positions in cloud and infrastructure, cyber security, data
analysis, digital workspace and enterprise applications.
ManpowerGroup's Talent Agents will offer assessment, coaching and
personalized support to help learners from organizations in this
collaboration to access growth roles and build employability for
the long-term.
This alliance will support IBM's goal to skill 500,000 people by
the end of the year through the IBM SkillsBuild program. In
addition, the collaboration will also collectively seek to:
- Provide 15,000 people with special program-based learning
experiences, including personalized trainings, and the chance to
apply for a job.
- Connect the workforce with real career opportunities, including
a commitment to secure 7,000 jobs across different industries.
"70% of employers can't find the skills they need for roles like
data analytics, software development and remote customer service,"
said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup
Chairman & CEO. "The only way we can address this acute talent
shortage is through partnerships across business, government and
education. That's why we are pleased to partner with companies like
IBM who share our mission to create a more skilled and diverse
workforce, so everyone is able to have a more equitable share
of prosperity."
"We are seeing an increased demand for new skills needed in
future tech jobs like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data
analytics, and cloud computing. IDC believes that the partnerships
IBM has announced are essential to helping meet the demands for
tech jobs of the future. However, the partnership with
ManpowerGroup is a perfect complement to IBM SkillsBuild's mission
of providing training for to underrepresented groups as it provides
meaningful career opportunities to badged IBM SkillsBuild
participants," said Curtis Price,
VP, Social, Environmental Responsibility and Ethics at IDC
About IBM SkillsBuild
IBM SkillsBuild is a free,
digital training program that helps adults develop valuable new
skills and find jobs, regardless of their background or
education. It operates in 141 countries, offering over 10,000
courses on cybersecurity, data analysis, cloud computing and many
other technical disciplines — as well as in workplace skills such
as Design Thinking. Participants can earn IBM-branded digital
credentials and a global network of 90 nonprofit partners helps
connect learners with local job opportunities. Most learners start
with no experience and can be ready to apply for IT jobs within six
months through participation in hands-on, project-based learning
and mentoring support. As of May
2021, 215,275 people have joined IBM SkillsBuild since its
launch and completed 341,000 learning hours.
###
IBM Media Contact
Katie
Leasor
kleasor@us.ibm.com
Carmen Maria San Segundo
Gamez
IBM Media Relations
Carmen.SanSegundo@ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM