As it looks to play a bigger role in the next stage of economic development around the world, Facebook has today announced that it's partnering with Coursera on two new career certificate courses, focused on Marketing Analytics and Software Development respectively.
As explained by Facebook:
"Building upon our Social Media Marketing Certificate, these career certificates will support learners with both transferable and technical skills they need to get a job. Like the Social Media Marketing professional certificate, these programs will also be self-paced and designed to be completed within 20 weeks, teaching foundational skills through project-based and online instructor-led learning.
The programs provide another pathway to learning increasingly in-demand skills, direct from Facebook, which is an industry leader in many of the core elements.
In addition to this, Facebook's also looking to provide more capacity for people from diverse backgrounds to access this new training.
"To ensure diverse learners can access our job seeker program, we are giving 100,000 scholarships to Facebook Certification to Black learners and 3,000 scholarships to COVID-19 displaced agency professionals globally. We are also providing scholarships for certifications to non-profits serving Latinx, Indigenous learners, refugees, reentering citizens, underserved schools, veterans and military families, and socio-economically disadvantaged groups globally."
Facebook has partnered with over 70 community organizations to facilitate the program roll-out, including the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Urban League of Detroit and Southeastern Michigan, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and more.
The new courses build on Facebook's existing programs that it's developed with Coursera, which include its certified course in digital marketing, first launched last September, and its scholarship program for minority communities, through which it's already committed to help over 6,000 job seekers via free digital skills training.
Both are part of the company's broader push to assist with the expected shift in skills required in the wake of the pandemic. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2020 “Future of Jobs” report, nearly half of all current employees will need reskilling by 2025 due to advances in technology, with the arrival of COVID-19 accelerating various elements within this, as we move to more remote-based and digitally-reliant positions.
Of course, Facebook does also stand to benefit from the same, as more reliance on digital tools inevitably also means more reliance on Facebook's products, in one way or another. Yet, even so, it's a good initiative from Facebook, providing more ways to gain key skills in emerging areas that will better position job seekers for rising opportunities.
You can check out the new courses on Facebook's digital skills hub, which will be updated with the full course info as it becomes available.
