Avanade and Techionista team up to offer women in Europe paid training in Data & AI

Microsoft certified course will start in May 2022 in 7 European countries. Deadline for applications is 31st March 2022.

Amsterdam. 28 March 2022 – Avanade, the leading Microsoft solutions provider and Techionista Academy, the leading Dutch IT & Tech Academy for women, have joined together to address the lack of female talent in the technology industry by offering Microsoft Azure Certified Data & AI courses for free to women across Europe. Starting in May 2022, the courses, lasting 16 weeks, will be available in 7 European countries including: UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium. Participants will become an employee of Avanade on day one of the course, receiving a competitive salary, with the promise of a guaranteed job on completion. 

This initiative not only looks to boost female representation within the IT/Tech workforce in Europe, which in 2021, was only 19%1, it also aims to address the ongoing competition for talent in the tech industry. The World Economic Forum expects 97 million jobs2 to be created worldwide between 2020 and 2025, with almost all requiring IT/technical knowledge and skills. Specific roles in high demand include data analysts, data scientists and, machine learning and AI specialists. Although European governments recognize the issues and are increasingly investing in IT and technology training (Digital Education Action Plan3), organisations such as Avanade are also looking to see how they can expedite a solution.

“Like many large IT and tech companies, we continually compete for the best talent, while also looking to attract more female talent to create a more diverse workforce. We feel it’s really important to help women understand the opportunities open to them in tech and gain the skills needed for an enriching career,” said Annika Grosse, Europe Data & AI lead at Avanade. “We’re proud to be working with Techionista Academy, which, like ourselves wants to inspire, motivate and educate women wanting to work in the IT/tech sector.”

Vivianne Bendermacher and Tamira van Roeyen, Managing Directors of Techionista Academy share their excitement to be working with Avanade: “It's great to see companies like Avanade not only opening the doors to more female talent; but also, specifically wanting to invest in them. Together we will make a difference at European level,” says Van Roeyen. 

Bendermacher commented: “We are pleased that more and more companies see the urgency and need for retraining and further training of women in particular. If we don't enrich women with IT skills now and retrain them for future-proof tech jobs, gender diversity in the labour market will only continue to decline.”

Women interested in applying for the paid-for Microsoft Azure Certified Data & AI course with a guaranteed role and salary at Avanade, should visit the Techionista Academy website. There is a limited number of places available per country.

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About Techionista

Our goal: more women working in Tech & IT and more diversity and inclusiveness within the labor market. Thanks to digitization, robotization and automation, millions of jobs will change or even disappear. At the same time, plenty of new jobs are also being created. These are jobs where Tech & IT skills are desired. The jobs that are most likely to change or even disappear are jobs in marketing, administration and facilities. Unfortunately, these are also the sectors where many women are employed. If we want to maintain and strengthen the position of women in the labor market, we will have to take action. We need to enrich more women with tech/IT skills. We also want to inspire and help them to find a job in sectors where too few women are employed. We are committed to this every day. For example, we have already retrained hundreds of women and helped them find jobs in IT & tech. We do this together with national and international companies that consider our mission important and are happy to contribute.

About Avanade

Avanade is the leading provider of innovative digital, cloud and advisory services, industry solutions and design-led experiences across the Microsoft ecosystem. Every day, our 56,000 professionals in 26 countries make a genuine human impact for our clients, their employees and their customers.

We have been recognized as Microsoft’s Global SI Partner of the Year more than any other company.  With the most Microsoft certifications (60,000+) and 18 (out of 18) Gold-level Microsoft competencies, we are uniquely positioned to help businesses grow and solve their toughest challenges.

We are a people first company, committed to providing an inclusive workplace where employees feel comfortable being their authentic selves. As a responsible business, we are building a sustainable world and helping young people from underrepresented communities fulfil their potential.

Majority owned by Accenture, Avanade was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft Corporation. Learn more at http://www.avanade.com