McKenna Institute aims to upskill up to 40,000 people in 5 years

McKenna Institute at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) announced that it is working with IBM Canada to provide education and career readiness resources to students and community members in New Brunswick. To that end, McKenna Institute is providing enhanced access to IBM SkillsBuild, with its partners at UNB, Université de Moncton, and Tech Impact. IBM SkillsBuild is a free, digital training program that prepares users for in-demand, entry-level IT and non-IT roles in many industries.

As part of the collaboration, McKenna Institute and its partners will work with students and community members, enhancing their IBM SkillsBuild experience, by developing customized learning plans and modules allowing them to work towards desired roles or competencies within the digital space. The McKenna Institute’s partnerships with community organizations will expand the reach of IBM SkillsBuild in the province.

Source: IBM SkillsBuild

More than 42% of all jobs, nationally, in 2022 require new tech-focused skills like analytics or design thinking. However, the pandemic exacerbated an already glaring global skills gap that left many of these types of positions unfilled. It has been calculated by Tech Impact, that in New Brunswick, this amounts to over 2000 positions within the technology sector in the next three to five years. Through customized learning plans on IBM SkillsBuild, the McKenna Institute and its partners intend to significantly increase the IT capacity within New Brunswick.