Over 60,000 people in Bangladesh gained digital skills amid the pandemic with the support of Microsoft. The company made the announcement in a media statement released on Thursday. "From laid-off factory workers to retail associates and truck drivers, millions of people have turned to online learning courses from GitHub, LinkedIn, and Microsoft during the pandemic to help prepare for and secure the most in-demand roles, including customer service projects management and data analysis," it said. Microsoft's announcement builds on the company's efforts to help people by extending free LinkedIn Learning and Microsoft Learn courses and low-cost certifications, that align to 10 of the most in-demand jobs, throughout 2021.  Also read: Microsoft server hack has victims hustling to stop intruders The next stage of the initiative sets a new foundation for a skills-based economy through a suite of new tools and platforms designed to connect skilled job seekers with employers.  "The pandemic has changed everything, and the post-pandemic world will be a lot different than what we knew of it," said Afif Mohamed Ali, country managing director of Microsoft Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, and Nepal. "We are standing on the brink of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which will fundamentally bring alchemical change and significantly impact all industries, including the job market It has become vital for individuals to learn and improve the skill set that will help them emerge stronger in the post-pandemic world." "So, we have collaborated with LinkedIn to double our efforts to support the development of a more inclusive skill-based labour market, to create more alternatives, greater flexibility, and access learning paths to connect more people with new job opportunities," said Afif. Also read: TikTok owner picks Oracle over Microsoft as US tech partner LinkedIn plans to help 250,000 companies globally make skills-based hires this year through new and existing hiring products.  The company will provide both new ways for job seekers to demonstrate their skills and new tools for employers to connect to candidates based on their skill proficiencies including, LinkedIn Skills Path, LinkedIn profile features, and LinkedIn Skills Graph.  "More and more, we are seeing skills-based hiring becoming critical in our world of work. We've seen people across the globe express a desire to learn and build their skills, and organisations too, are hiring based on skills instead of traditional qualifications," said Olivier Legrand, managing director and vice-president of LinkedIn Asia Pacific and China. "LinkedIn, together with Microsoft, are committed to helping everyone shift towards a skills-based economy. In 2021, we will continue our efforts to equip job seekers with the right resources to pick up new skills, and connect them to opportunities, as well as aim to help 250,000 organizations make a skills-based hire." Read City Bank partners with Microsoft to enable its employees to work from home