- Thanks Satya.
Anytime we launch an initiative like this,
we always ask ourselves a critical question,
what's the problem we're trying to solve?
Well, in some cases, it's obvious.
Look around the world today
and what we see, is more people out of work since any time
in the Great Depression in the 1930s.
In fact, we estimate that in 2020,
before this year comes to an end,
we'll see almost a quarter of a billion people
lose their job.
It's a staggering number.
In part, it's the obvious reaction to this pandemic,
a pandemic that is unique in our lifetime,
but it's about more than that as well.
It's also the result of long-term trends in our economy,
trends that have been unleashing more automation, automation
that has been eliminating jobs
that often involve more manual work
and replacing them with jobs
that are more digitally-focused.
Think about all of the jobs around us.
Everywhere you look, you see the jobs
are becoming more digital.
Think about the work of a graphic designer.
What used to happen on a piece of paper, now,
is displayed on a computer screen.
Think about people in the healthcare area.
Think about the explosion
in telehealth just over the last few months.
That, we think,
is never going to go back to the way it was before.
Think about what it takes to work on a manufacturing floor
in the world today.
Manufacturers are digital workers.
And think about the life of a teacher.
Think about how dependent teachers
have become on digital skills and digital tools.
Even when kids are back in the classroom,
we can expect more reliance
on digital technology to continue.
That's why we estimate, as a company,
that by the middle of this decade in the year 2025,
we'll see the creation of 149 million new technology jobs.
In many ways, these will be jobs
that involve the creation of software,
but they involve a whole lot more than that.
It includes people who will be working with data,
people who will be protecting cyber security,
people who will be protecting privacy as well.
Everywhere, in every company,
on every continent, even in government itself,
we'll see the need for people with new skills.
But there's another problem that we have to help solve.
If you look back over the last 20 years,
employer investments in employee training
have been declining.
They first fell from the late 1990s to the year 2010.
And then in the decade that we just finished,
we really experienced a decade of stagnation,
stagnating employer investments in employee training.
So, fundamentally this asks us to ask ourselves,
how do we turn this around?
How do we help people develop the skills
they'll need to succeed in the years ahead?
It calls on a principled approach
and that's what we've been doing as a company.
We've grounded our work, not just this initiative
that we're launching today, but beyond, in six principles.
It really starts by putting data
and digital technology to work
to help people develop new skills.
The data can help us learn what skills people need
and the technology can help people acquire them.
But it takes more than that.
We're focused on a broad set of skills,
not just digital skills alone.
In part, we need to help people develop the skills to ensure
that technology is used responsibly,
that it's applied ethically,
that it's deployed in a manner
that protects people's privacy.
And we need to help people develop
the softer, so-called, success skills
that are essential for a world
where people need to work with each other
and it's all about the success of a team.
We need to couple that by asking employers to do more.
Employers around the world will need to invest more
in the training of their people.
As an employer, that starts with Microsoft itself
and you'll see us take new steps in the months ahead.
But more than that, we think our biggest contribution
is in creating tools and technology
that can help employers do more for their employees
and do it more seamlessly, more effectively,
more efficiently than they can today.
All of this requires partnership.
And so, as part of this initiative,
we're leaning on partners in a big way.
A huge aspect of this is stronger partnerships
with nonprofits in the United States,
and around the world
and a spirit of partnership to work with
and support governments as well.
Finally, this is an initiative
that is pulling together every part of our company.
It starts with LinkedIn,
which is really the heart and soul of this work,
but it combines LinkedIn's efforts with Microsoft Learn,
and with GitHub, and the GitHub Learning Lab,
and ultimately, it's about all of us working together
in a new and important way.
That's why, what you'll see here today
is a multi-faceted approach to this initiative.
It's an initiative that starts with data
to identify the jobs that are in demand
and the skills that are needed for them.
It builds on that, by providing people
with access to learning, learning content, free of charge
and then it builds on that second piece with this third.
Access to low cost, subsidized tests, and certifications,
and free job-seeking tools
so people can close the loop
and find the job
that they'll need for a more successful future.
To walk us through all of these pieces,
I'm delighted to turn this over to Ryan Roslansky,
the new CEO at LinkedIn.
Ryan.