US-based technology company Cognizant Technology Solutions, and General Assembly, a digital training and talent acquisition company, have announced a digital engineering education programme to address growing digital skills gap and projected global shortage of qualified technology workers.

Cognizant employs around 2.60 lakh employees globally, of which over 80 per cent work in India.

Last year, Cognizant hired over 6,000 employees in the US. It plans to add at least 25,000 more across the country over the next five years. It recently announced a contribution of $100 million to a new non-profit foundation focussed on US STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.

The web and software education programme, open for anyone to apply and provided at no cost to participants, launched this month at multiple General Assembly campuses in the US.

The programme will use General Assembly’s ‘Talent Pipeline as a Service’, which sources, trains, and delivers skilled workers to enterprises, enabling employers to close large and often persistent gaps for qualified talent. The service is part of General Assembly’s broader efforts to position both workers and employers for success in today’s digital-first economy, connecting businesses directly to a diverse pool of skilled candidates already enrolled with General Assembly, said a press release.