With the global economy suffering badly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as many as 25 crore people are set to lose their jobs this year, Microsoft President Brad Smith has said. The world is facing a staggering jobs challenge and people need to learn new skills to get jobs, "or even to hang on to their old one," Smith said recently. As per Microsoft calculations, global unemployment in 2020 may reach a quarter of a billion people. Last month, Microsoft announced a new global skills initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills by the end of the year. Over the next five years, Microsoft estimates that the global workforce can absorb around 149 million new technology-oriented jobs.

Source: dna July 18, 2020 07:30 UTC