Microsoft Gets Serious About Dealing With The Skills Shortage

Cyber security is a major concern for businesses, governments and individuals as the world becomes increasingly digital, particularly since the start of the pandemic. With ransomware attacks on the rise that are targeting major tech companies and governmental agencies, the need is greater than ever for a skilled workforce.

Now, Microsoft plans to halve the United States' cyber security workforce shortage by 2025 by pouring resources into training programs. 

The US faces a cyber security skills gap and  Microsoft thinks the country’s cyber workforce shortage and the improvement in the numbers will also help diversify the cyber workforce to include more women, black and Hispanic people.

Microsoft aims to help train and recruit 250,000 people into the cyber security workforce by then and it will partner with community colleges across the US and provide free resources in an attempt to help end a shortage of cyber security workers.

The corporation announced it’s is offering money, free LinkedIn premium memberships and resources from the coding repository website Github as part of a new cyber security scholarship program. 

“We believe we can make a meaningful difference in solving half of the cyber security jobs shortage,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a press conference recently, adding that “we should be optimistic that in the next 12-24 months we can start to make a real dent.” it said in a lengthy statement.

In particular, Microsoft said it will also offer all community colleges in the US with free curriculums and professional development materials, some of which help prepare for Microsoft technical certifications. The more than 1,000 community colleges across the US serve a large, diverse pool of students and are an “extraordinary asset” for bolstering the nation’s cybersecurity workforce, Smith said during the announcement.

Data compiled by Microsoft shows that there is one open cyber security job for roughly every two that are filled in the US and of all available positions in the US, more than one in 20 is a job requiring cyber security skills. According to Microsoft these  jobs pay an average of $105,800 per year and can range from chief information security officer roles to those requiring a mix of IT and cyber security know-how.

In addition to addressing the workforce shortage, Smith said the campaign will play an important role in diversifying the industry. Microsoft found that men hold 82.4% of cyber security jobs in the US and 80% of those jobs are held by people who are white. According to data compiled by Microsoft, 57% of community college students in the US are women and 40% of students identify as Black, African American or Hispanic.

The announcement follows commitments Microsoft made after a White House cyber security summit in August with President Joe Biden and CEOs across several industries. 

Microsoft committed to spend $20 billion over five years to deliver more advanced security tools and invest $150 million to help government agencies update their security systems and expand training partnerships in cybersecurity.

Several high-profile cyber attacks have drawn public attention to the potential risks associated with cyber crime and the attack on government software contractor SolarWinds revealed last year affected several federal agencies. A separate attack on Colonial Pipeline caused a significant gas shortage in the Southeast.

Both the US government and the private sector have pointed to the workforce shortage as a persistent problem as they try to take on such breaches.

Microsoft worked with 14 community colleges across six states to develop an approach for the campaign. The company's commitment will offer a cyber security curriculum free of charge to 4,000 higher education institutions, provide training to faculty at 150 community colleges and provide scholarships and resources to 25,000 students.

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