To help fill the 250,000 cybersecurity job shortage in the U.S. by 2025,Microsoft announced the launch of a nationwide event this Thursday, Which includes offering free courses to every public community college.The company’s president Brad Smith warned that the current labor shortage has reached crisis levels and may undermine the country’s ability to protect itself from cyber and ransomware attacks.
Since cyber attacks by foreign governments and non-state actors caused unprecedented damage to federal agencies, supply chains, and individual businesses last year, the demand for cyber security workers far exceeds the supply.
according toMicrosoftAccording to the report, due to labor shortages, one-third of cybersecurity jobs in the United States have not been filled. Currently, this gap is estimated to have nearly 500,000 vacancies, and Microsoft believes it can halve it in the next four years.
The company believes that the 11.8 million Americans currently enrolled in community colleges are the “biggest potential asset” that the United States can use to address the shortage of skilled workers and also help diversify the predominantly white online workforce.
This new initiative will build on Microsoft’s commitment this year to invest US$20 billion in cybersecurity over several years, including US$150 million to help support the federal government’s protective measures.
