Microsoft steps up efforts for women talent

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Microsoft India launched ‘Women in Tech’, an initiative aimed at bringing in more women into the Indian IT industry. Through this program, Microsoft says, it will attract and retain women talent in the industry. Along with partners, Microsoft will train and mentor one million girls and women in the next 12 months. These will include girl school students, young women students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) colleges, women IT professionals and women entrepreneurs.

Announcing the new initiative, Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft India said, “Today, the IT industry in India has about one million women. Our Women in Tech initiative aims to double that number in the next few years. In the first year, our partners and we will train and mentor the next one million women and help them join, grow and succeed in the IT industry.”

“We are excited by the Government of India’s Digital India vision. At Microsoft, we have been running various IT skill development and education programs for youth for over 20 years. With this new initiative, we want to focus on helping women who aspire to be IT professionals,” he added.

“Our Women in Tech initiative is aimed at enabling India’s young girls and women find suitable careers in IT and accelerate their growth. Through the course of the next year, we will provide one million women access to awareness sessions, training and certification programs, and mentoring sessions. In addition, through Microsoft Ventures we will also mentor 30 women-led start-up companies and support them in building connections with the broader start-up community in India,” said Joseph Landes, Chief Evangelist, Microsoft India.