By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Verizon said on Wednesday it would invest $70 million in a nationwide effort to provide AI training to job seekers, small businesses and educators, as the US economy adapts to rapid technological change.
The US telecom company is partnering with non-profit programs such as Goodwill Industries and aims to provide AI training to hundreds of thousands of people using training resources from companies including IBM, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft and OpenAI.
“AI will change the face of the workforce,” Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said in an interview. “We can’t do it alone, by the way, but maybe we can inspire and be a bit of a role model.”
Schulman wants other large companies to join the effort and help fund programs that equip workers with skills for specific AI-related jobs.
“It’s in the self-interest of all business leaders to step up,” Schulman said. “If every Fortune 100 (company) put $50 million or $70 million into this, we have a multibillion-dollar fund.”
Verizon last year committed $20 million to help departing employees gain AI skills after announcing plans to cut 13,000 jobs. The new initiative adds a further $50 million.
“We are very focused on relevant skills for relevant jobs in a transitioning economy,” said Goodwill Industries CEO Steven Preston in an interview. “The requirement for AI in job descriptions by employers has just gone up exponentially. So they’re looking for people who can apply AI in specific skills.”
The Verizon platform will offer free training tailored to specific occupations. Many workers view AI training as a “black hole”, Preston said, because they are unsure where to begin.
Goodwill began providing digital skills training in 2017 as employers increasingly demanded technology skills across a wide range of jobs.
“This is providing access to meaningful roles that many people wouldn’t have been able to compete for before,” Preston said.
Verizon senior vice president Donna Epps said the company chose to partner with an organisation such as Goodwill because it already has a strong presence in local communities and can provide hands-on support. “It’s a massive challenge to create a AI ready workforce in the U.S.,” Epps said.
(Reporting by David Shepardson. Editing by David Goodman and Mark Potter)
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