“Microsoft (announces) a job training effort aimed at giving technical skills to as many as 2 million Americans over the next three years…Microsoft is offering free certification and other technical training…starting with Washington State.”
A big wOOt to Microsoft!
Great marketing program by Microsoft to be honest. They give away (or lower the price for states) something that is relatively inexpensive for them for to provide, while not providing general training – but providing training mainly on Microsoft’s products. And all of this is wrapped up as a stimulus.
I’m certainly not saying this is a bad thing, and it’s better than them not doing anything – but it’s definitely not completely out of the goodness of their hearts.
A good story about this can be found at:
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/02/microsoft-and-employment-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.ars
Unfortunately hiring at Microsoft is pretty stalled, and oh yeah, they overpaid some severance and are asking for it back (ouch).