Google offers certificate courses to help Americans seek better jobs

The company announces three online certificates, which will be treated on par with four-year degrees

Google has announced to invest $10bn in India to help the South Asian country accelerate the development of its digital economy. Reuters

Google is offering career certificate programmes that will enable workers who don't have university degrees to seek high-paying jobs.

The Alphabet-owned company also pledged $10 million (Dh36.7m) in job training grants in the US.

The tech giant will offer three online career certificates in data analytics, project management and user experience design, and will consider them as the equivalent of a four-year degree for related roles.

Kent Walker, senior vice president of global affairs at Google, said, no degree or prior experience was required to take the courses.

“College degrees are out of reach for many Americans, and you shouldn’t need a college diploma to have economic security. We need new, accessible job-training solutions to help America recover and rebuild,” he said.

“The programmes equip participants with the essential skills they need to get a job.”

The programmes are designed by Google employees who work in the same fields, the company said. The company will also offer 100,000 need-based scholarships to complete any of these courses.

Nearly two thirds of all new jobs created since 2010 require either high-level or medium-level digital skills, Mr Walker said.

“Technology has been a lifeline to help many small businesses during the Covid-19 crisis ... and online tools can help people get new skills and find good-paying jobs,” he said.

Google said it would offer internship opportunities for candidates completing these career certificate programmes to provide them on-the-job training.

The California company has also pledged $10m in Google.org grants to help workforce boards and non-profit organisations improve their job training programmes and increase access to digital skills for women, veterans and underserved people.

Google has successfully undertaken similar initiatives in the past.

Since 2017, it has helped 5 million Americans learn digital skills through its Grow with Google programme. The company has distributed more than $200m in grants to non-profit groups working to promote economic opportunity as part of its Future of Work initiative.

On Monday, Google revealed plans to invest $10 billion in India to help the south Asian country accelerate the development of its digital economy.