Microsoft and IOM partner to strengthen access to online learning for young workers

Microsoft and IOM will help young workers in Vietnam acquire new, crucial skills

The partnership is an extension of Microsoft’s on-going Global Skills Initiative (GSI) that was launched in 2020 to address growing employment challenges resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the pilot phase of the project, the online digital learning platform will be designed to provide 3,000 internal migrant workers in the industrial and export-processing zones and vocational students in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai provinces opportunities to develop basic and necessary digital skills for employability and access to digital society.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the development of digital skills is essential to build resilience to economic and social shocks, especially as the countries face the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In this context, young Vietnamese workers including potential, current, and return migrants must be equipped with the necessary skills to become resilient and competitive to survive the post-COVID world.

The Vietnamese government’s strong emphasis on skilling, re-skilling, and upskilling the Vietnamese labour force is demonstrated by many relevant policies with attention given to digital skills development. The Politburo Resolution No.52-NQ/TW in 2019 on directions to proactively participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Decision No.749/QD-TTg in 2020 by the Vietnamese prime minister on “the National Strategy for Digital Transformation” in which delivery of digital skills training for labour force and the whole population is an integral part. The government calls on the parties, stakeholders, and agencies to work together to create synergies to implement digital transformation nation-wide.

Speaking to the gathering of government representatives, colleges, and industry, and partners, Mihyung Park, chief of mission, IOM Vietnam stressed that, “Digital literacy and digital skills are fundamental in today’s society. The labour market is changing fast with automation and it will have significant impacts on young workers, including migrant workers. Unless they have easy access to upskilling opportunities, it is highly likely that they will be left behind. Also, digital skills are essential to the well-being of migrants as it supports and facilitates integration in their new communities.

She added, “IOM is very happy to see this partnership create a platform that can potentially assist millions of workers both in country and overseas to have not only better employment opportunities but improve their migration experience.”

Phan Tu Quyen, Marketing and Operation lead, Microsoft Vietnam, said: “In one year, COVID-19 has provoked a massive demand shock, setting off job losses that far exceed the scale of the Great Recession a decade ago. The world will need a broad economic recovery that will require in part the development of new skills among a substantial part of the global workforce.”