Salesforce in collaboration with Ayala Foundation, the social development arm of the Ayala group of companies, has announced to roll out digital and CRM skills programs for women in the Philippines.  A total of 185 women between the ages of 18 to 24 will be trained in the Philippines under Ayala Foundation’s U-Go Scholar Grant, to bridge the skills and gender gap and increase their participation in digital economy.

U-Go is a joint initiative between Ayala Foundation and education start-up U-Go to help Filipino women from disadvantaged backgrounds pursue higher education in order to increase female representation in the workforce.

A three-year MoU has been signed between Salesforce and Ayala Foundation. Under the partnership, Salesforce is responsible for facilitating bi-monthly virtual workshops and digital skills learning on topics including data access and security best practices along with reporting and dashboards. Participants will also use Trailhead, Salesforce’s free online learning platform, to access curated learning modules, and develop critical skills for the future around AI, data, and CRM at their own pace.

Through the training, the women can also tap on Salesforce solutions for various digital applications. Specifically, they will learn how to manage and configure Salesforce tools in order to understand and qualify data; design dashboards and reports to present data effectively; and identify data security and user access best practices.

Upon completion of training, participants will be awarded a Salesforce Admin Super Set credential, which will allow them to pursue jobs as a Salesforce Administrator, and open pathways to other Salesforce roles such as developer, architect, or business analyst in the future.

“We believe that building a diverse talent pool is at the heart of creating a foundation for resilient businesses in the Philippines, and will go a long way towards realising the country’s digital ambitions,” said Sujith Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Salesforce ASEAN. 

"Together with Salesforce and our other partners, we are dedicated to strengthening the U-Go program and broadening pathways to success for a more equitable tomorrow," said Ayala Foundation President Tony Lambino.

The World Bank predicts that by 2050, an increase in female labour supply by 0.5 percentage points per year can increase GDP per capita in the Philippines by almost 10 percent. A study by the Asian Development Bank and LinkedIn found that six of the last 10 candidates hired in the Philippines were required to possess basic digital literacy and skills, and two of the last 10 hires required advanced digital skills.