MILLIONS OF JOBS TO BE GAINED

the dramatic acceleration in digitisation triggered by Covid-19 lockdowns and social distancing will make millions of job losses across the world permanent, unless the global workforce rapidly acquires the skills needed to tackle new technologies.

Technology giant Microsoft has warned that the transition is essential to drive recovery from the worst global recession in at least eight decades, which may leave a quarter of a billion people unemployed this year. The pandemic has shone a “harsh light” on what was already a widening global skills gap, it says.

“Crises have a way of accelerating trends already in motion, and the Covid-19 pandemic has proven no exception. Our data shows that two years’ worth of digital transformation have been concentrated into the past two months,” it said