Amazon to Help 29 Million People Develop Their Technology Skills with Free Cloud Computing Training by 2025
During the ongoing virtual re:Invent conference, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced a proposal to provide millions of people around the world with free cloud training. with the growing demand for cloud computing expertise, Teresa Carlson, head of Worldwide Public Sector at AWS, outlined the initiative. It builds on AWS’ new pledge to put $700 million into “upskilling” 100,000 Amazon employees, revealed last year around a third of its U.S. workforce.
“For many years, I have been talking with business and government leaders about how we can work together to bridge the technical skills gap. In these conversations, we all agree about the importance of democratizing knowledge and giving all individuals — regardless of their background, education, or social status — the opportunity to build technical skills.” — said Carlson
AWS expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars under the latest strategy outlined by Carlson, to carry its cloud training services to 29 million individuals in more than 200 countries and territories by 2025.
A few forms AWS aims to deliver on its pledge were outlined by Carlson. First it aims to extend its current portals for teaching and training, AWS Training and Certification (focused on IT professionals) and AWS Educate (aimed at students and educators). According to Carlson, these two portals now offer more than 500 courses, labs and training sessions at no cost. In 2020, in addition to the hundreds of free courses already available, AWS Training and Certification has introduced 50 new interactive courses and according to them, they will continue to add more material and new ways to learn.
According to Carlson, AWS also aims to extend the availability of its re/Start service to “underrepresented communities”. AWS re/Start seeks to assist “unemployed or underemployed individuals” to learn the skills needed to apply for cloud jobs at the entry level. In a classroom setting, AWS re/Start courses are intensive, taking place several days a week for 12 weeks. AWS also coaches resume-writing and interviewing candidates, as well as linking them to prospective employers.
In 25 cities and 12 nations, re/Start is currently available. By next year, the proposed expansion would double the number of cities, Carlson said, as well as boost the diversity of students in the program.
Amazon focuses on creating creative programs that have a permanent, meaningful effect on the communities, and the implementation of STEM and skills training programs that are essential to this strategy, Carlson said. It was also mentioned that they are expecting to continue increasing access to skills training and provide the tools to do this to anyone who wants to advance their cloud skills.
