Narayan AmmachchiGlobal computing giant Microsoft has launched a program to train as many as 250,000 Americans in cybersecurity over the next four years.
To meet its goal, Microsoft is going to team up with hundreds of community colleges across the country.
The technology giant says it will provide scholarships to around 25,000 students and upskill the existing cybersecurity teachers in 150 colleges.
In addition, Microsoft will make the curriculum available free of charge to all of the nation’s public community colleges.
The announcement comes two months after President Joe Biden held a meeting with the technology firms, urging them to contribute to enhancing cybersecurity in the country.
More than 30% of cybersecurity positions are lying vacant across the United States, although cybersecurity workers can expect to earn more than US $100,000 annually.
Currently, there are 464, 200 open jobs in the United States that require cybersecurity skills that account for 6% of all open jobs in the country, according to Microsoft president Brad Smith.
Microsoft says community college is the perfect place to provide cybersecurity training, saying 11.8 million Americans attend these institutes every year.
“Almost two-thirds attend classes part-time, while they hold jobs to help raise families,” Smith wrote in a blog post.
That would be great, I work as an IT guy in an American company and we have seen an increase in cyberattacks.
In my opinion, if many people will learn the basics of cybersecurity we will be able to the risks of being hacked.