Microsoft campaign to help over one million Britons build tech careers

Organisation’s five-year plan aimed at graduates, those switching careers as a result of the pandemic and IT professionals looking to improve their career prospects

Microsoft has launched a scheme to help one and a half million people in the UK get careers in the tech sector by 2025.

The Get On 2021 campaign builds on Microsoft's on-year global skills initiative and will train people who are in education, new to tech and those who have had their jobs impacted by the pandemic. It also aims to develop the skills of tech professionals and help leaders adopt new business models to deploy technology to advance their organisations.

The initiative aims to help 300,000 people connect to tech job opportunities within the five-year period and has so far received support from Unilever, KPMG and the Department of Work and Pensions.

As the UK faces multiple challenges in the forms of the ongoing pandemic and establishing new global trading relationships in the wake of Brexit, the campaign aims to address the widening skills gap in the tech industry, accelerate technology adoption and enhancing the UK's competitiveness by increasing access to tech careers.

"The shape of the UK economy and its workforce is changing. A change only accelerated by the rapid move to digital working in the wake of the disruption we've seen this year," said Microsoft UK CEO Clare Barclay at the vendor's Envision UK event.

"With hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs and some traditional sectors heavily impacted, we urgently need to invest in UK technical skills and capability to help realise our competitive potential.

"We want to help people get the right skills to thrive in technology careers, and employers find the right talent to help drive business success and UK prosperity. Together we can build a future based on long term sustainable growth."

The scheme will focus on three groups: school leavers and graduates entering the workplace for the first time, those looking to switch careers as a result of their job being affected by the ongoing crisis and IT professionals looking to develop their skills and long-term prospects.

Core programmes in the campaign include pre-employability programmes for students across the UK, expanding apprenticeships through levy transfer, social impact partnerships, career switcher programmes, AI and AI business schools and Talent Accelerator academies.

Microsoft is utilising its 25,000-strong partner community to create pathways into tech careers, as well as building a more diverse workforce.

Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, stated: "I am delighted with Microsoft's announcement of ‘Get On 2021', boosting the confidence and skills of young people starting their careers and helping experienced workers to upskill or switch jobs.

"This kind of support - acting locally and in partnership with industry - is not only vital to the future of jobseekers, but also to the success of the UK economy as we build back better.

"And it is extremely encouraging that this will complement our comprehensive package of support through our £30bn Plan for Jobs - with our Kickstart scheme providing hundreds of thousands of good quality jobs for young people and our new JETS programme giving people who have recently become unemployed the helping hand they need to get back into work."

Data from Microsoft-owned Linked In indicated that there will be a need for more than three million skilled people in IT careers in the UK over the next five years.

Another study Microsoft did with Goldsmiths college identified that there could be over £48bn of opportunity for business leaders if they develop their digital competitiveness through sustainable growth practices.

Lisa Heneghan, KPMG UK's chief digital officer, stated: "Given the speed with which the world has revolutionised digitally, not only in the last six months but in the recent decades, the importance of digital and technical skills for the next generation of workers cannot be stressed enough.

"The business community must recognise the need to build technology into the bones of our business strategies and community outreach, as we have done at KPMG. In the current economic climate, investing in career opportunities for a tech-driven talent pipeline will be vital to help future-proof the success of the UK economy."