Amazon Web Services Opens Cloud Skills Training Centre

Amazon Web Services is offering a number of initiatives to help people develop their cloud computing skills, to address industry shortages.

The move will allow people to potentially begin to explore new career opportunities in the cloud, and to make this a reality, Amazon is offering four initiatives.

Developing cloud skills is increasingly vital in today’s jobs market, with many organisations dropping their traditional inhouse data centre facilities, and instead leasing cloud capacity from public cloud providers such as AWS and many others.

Cloud skills

Amazon is now offering four initiatives to help people develop their cloud computing skills.

To this end it is launching the AWS Skill Builder.

Amazon describes this as a new digital learning experience, thanks to the addition of AWS courses to the Amazon.com website, as well as the expansion of the AWS re/Start global reskilling program.

Amazon is also opening the AWS Skills Centre in its corporate headquarters in Seattle, which is Amazon’s first dedicated, in-person cloud learning space.

It comes after Amazon is December 2020, committed itself to investing hundreds of millions of dollars to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people by 2025 – in more than 200 countries and territories.

Amazon said it has already helped over 6 million people gain cloud skills, and the latest efforts build on the existing commitment by putting skills training into the hands of millions of people.

Skills shortage

Amazon said it was undertaking these efforts because of its research, which showed the need for digital skills training is greater than ever.

The AWS Global Digital Skills Study surveyed employers and workers on their perceptions of digital skills training across 12 countries.

The study found that 85 percent of workers feel that they now need more technical knowledge to do their jobs as a result of pandemic-related changes in their work.

Additionally, workers who take the time to learn new skills are seeing significant benefits, with 86 percent reporting greater efficiency in doing their jobs, 85 percent experiencing greater personal satisfaction, and 80 percent reporting improved employability.

“Our goal is to empower anyone with a desire to learn by giving them access to the tools necessary to excel in cloud computing careers,” said Maureen Lonergan, VP of training and certification at AWS.

“Over the next decade, we expect the adoption of cloud computing across every industry will fuel a vast number of new jobs, which is why we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to develop online courses, local in-person reskilling programs, and new ways to make it easy for anyone to learn cloud skills,” said Lonergan.

“Lowering barriers to accessing technical skills training is critical to power a thriving, diverse workforce of the future,” said Lonergan. “The programs that are part of this commitment are free and designed to meet a range of learner needs, whether they are totally new to the cloud computing industry – or even to technology – or experienced professionals looking to advance their skills.”

The shortage of cloud skills has been ongoing for years now.

In 2012 a recruitment report found there was increasingly high demand for cloud computing specialists, as more and more companies and organisations incorporated the cloud into their operations.