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SoftwareOne Academy welcomed to EU Pact for Skills Consortium

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Serena Gonsalves-FerschGlobal Lead SoftwareONE Academy
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Having celebrated its first year of activity, the SoftwareOne Academy has announced that it has been accepted by the European Commission and welcomed into the EU Pact for Skills Consortium. The Consortium is a growing community of organisations, training providers, associations and local authorities who all contribute to making up-skilling and re-skilling a reality within Europe.

This past year, SoftwareOne Academy has made supporting grassroots talent it's number one priority. Providing students from all walks of life the opportunity to start their career with a forward-thinking technology company, the Academy is helping to activate and mobilise a new generation of technology talent, and as such has been welcomed into the Pact for Skills Consortium.

Supporting the future workforce

Since its launch last year, the SoftwareOne Academy has already supported 150 students in 8 countries with new student cohorts in locations such as India, the Philippines, Brazil, USA, Germany and Spain. In 2022 the Academy has launched programmes in Mexico and Costa Rica with Bulgaria, Poland and Romania to follow shortly.

With a major emphasis on bridging the gap between education and employment, SoftwareOne’s Academy is bringing big ideas to small communities around the world.

And it’s now supported by the EU Pact for Skills.

What’s the EU Pact for skills?

Launched in November 2020, the EU Pact for Skills is a shared engagement model designed to support skills development in Europe. It welcomes organisations, national, regional and local authorities, social partners, education and training providers, chambers of commerce and employment services to join forces and take concrete action towards upskilling and reskilling people in Europe.

As a proud member of the EU Pact for Skills, the SoftwareOne Academy proactively supports its charter, and as such respects and upholds the following principles:

  1. Promoting a culture of lifelong learning for all
  2. Building strong skills partnerships
  3. Monitoring skills supply/demand and anticipating skills needs
  4. Working against discrimination and for gender equality and equal opportunities

With many of these principles already embedded within the values structure of SoftwareOne itself, this partnership is destined to be fruitful for all involved.

Forging new futures for all

As the Academy forges ahead into its second year, it’s showing no signs of slowing down. There are already partnerships in place with the EU, the EaFa and Microsoft and AWS, meaning that the career opportunities the Academy offers will be available to even more people in the near future. On top of that, they will be welcoming applications for new student cohorts in the following locations in 2022:

  • Romania,
  • Bulgaria,
  • Poland
  • France
  • Vietnam
  • Colombia
  • And many, many more

Every student receives close support and mentoring from tech specialists within SoftwareOne itself, as well as access to loads of digital resources and structured learning experiences and pathways. This combined approach means students are able to learn in a way that makes sense to them, in their own time, and then apply that knowledge in practical environments that reflect their future day-to-day roles. Every programme comes with the guarantee of a role in SoftwareOne once students have successfully completed the Academy.

Big Ideas. Small Communities.

For many students, it’s the real opportunity they need to transform their careers – and to learn on the job whilst being paid. For SoftwareOne, it’s an opportunity to give back and support those who don’t always get accepted into these types of programmes (for example, the Academy welcomes applications from experienced adults working in other areas of specialism, as well as ex-military professions). It comes from a place of passion, and being welcomed into the EU Pact for Skills Consortium will help to extend and amplify these opportunities, which can only be a good thing.

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Join the SoftwareOne Academy

If you or someone you know would like to be part of the SoftwareOne Academy, why not sign up to be the first to know when opportunities arise in your area?

Join the SoftwareOne Academy

If you or someone you know would like to be part of the SoftwareOne Academy, why not sign up to be the first to know when opportunities arise in your area?

Author

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Serena Gonsalves-Fersch
Global Lead SoftwareONE Academy