IBM ties up with 30 organisations to reskill, connect people with work opportunities

Tech giant IBM has partnered with 30 global organizations, including 11 from India that will contribute to the company's goal of training 500,000 people by the end of the year through its SkillsBuild program.

The partnership includes governments, community colleges, non-profits, and employment agencies that are focused on improving underserved populations' skills and employability. Some of the partner organizations include The American Indian Foundation Trust, Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development, CSC Academy, CSRBOX, Edunet Foundation, Training Point, Reach Foundation, Tata Community Initiatives Trust, Unnati Foundation, Uvi Jagriti Sansthan, and Jeevitam-VSS Tech Solutions, a statement said.

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, it added. 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, it said.

The announcement of the alliances, which span 12 countries, was made at VivaTech on Thursday. "Closing the global skills gap is one of the most pressing issues of our time. That is why I'm proud of these partnerships, which will help people of all backgrounds acquire the skills they need to thrive in a fast-changing global economy," IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said.

In addition, ManpowerGroup - a workforce solutions company - plans to connect these job seekers to career opportunities. This alliance will support IBM's goal to skill 500,000 people by the end of the year through the IBM SkillsBuild program, the statement said. In addition, the collaboration will also collectively seek to provide 15,000 people with special program-based learning experiences, including personalized training, and the chance to apply for a job. It will also help connect the workforce with career opportunities, including a commitment to secure 7,000 jobs across different industries.

"IBM India is committed to empowering our nation's workforce with the new-age skills required to build careers in the digital age. In 2019, we introduced the SkillsBuild program in India in collaboration with the Directorate General of Training (DGT) and Ministry of Skills Development (MSDE) and have trained over 100,000 learners through the program so far," Sandip Patel, Managing Director at IBM India, said.

Eleven Indian organizations joining the global alliance will give a huge fillip to not just bridging the skill gap in India, but also in initiating learners on the right career path by connecting them to the best opportunities, he added.