Microsoft announces ‘Tomoh’ initiative to accelerate employability and skills among Emiratis

Under the patronage, and in presence of His Excellency Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli, Minister of Human Resources & Emiratisation, Microsoft today announced the launch of Tomoh – a unique programme designed to empower Emiratis to pursue careers in technology.

The virtual launch event was attended by senior officials and executives from both the Ministry and Microsoft, including participants who enrolled in the first batch of the ‘Tomoh’ programme. 

Coinciding with the event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was also signed between His Excellency, Ahmad Yousuf Al Nasser, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Resources Development and Sayed Hashish, General Manager, Microsoft UAE to expand collaboration on Emiratisation initiatives and contribute to enhance skillsets and employability amongst local talent of the country. 

His Excellency Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, praised the Ministry’s partnership with Microsoft and highlighted that ‘Tomoh’ will contribute to the efforts of empowering young citizens in increasing their competitiveness in the technology sector and lead to its rapid growth in the UAE, as guided by the vision of the country’s wise leadership. 

During the virtual ceremony, His Excellency said, “the initiative reaffirms Microsoft’s commitment towards our Emiratization efforts that are centred on developing partnerships between the government and private sectors. “Tomoh” is aligned with our strategic goals of Emiratisation as it provides appropriate training opportunities for citizens, whether students or researchers on the job, developing and honing their skills, and enhancing their employment opportunities in one of the world's leading technology companies.”

His Excellency called upon the youth of the country to make the most of the opportunities that are available to them to equip themselves with skills of the digital revolution and technologies such as artificial intelligence to contribute effectively to the future of the Emirates – as guided by the country’s wise leadership that supports to prepare national leaders across all sectors of the country.

His Excellency praised the local talent of the country that have proven their abilities in the technology sector, and expressed his confidence that the country’s youth will make the most of programmes like Tomoh and achieve excellence

Sayed Hashish, General Manager, Microsoft UAE, said. “With a shared vision to support the government’s emiritisation efforts, Tomoh is a unique initiative designed to boost employability amongst Emirati youth by equipping them with globally recognized skills. Together, we will empower local talent with technical specialties and work experience to pursue careers in both, public and private sectors.”

With its mission to “Accelerate Emirati employability through direct hiring, internship, on the job trainings & digital skilling programs”, Tomoh will focus on three core pillars. 

The first, ‘Learn at Microsoft’ will offer internship and secondment opportunities to UAE nationals and will involve remote learning of globally recognized skills, in-person sessions with mentors and a skilling bootcamp. Trainees will also pursue on-the-job training, including shadowing opportunities, and completion of Microsoft massive open online courses. 

The second pillar of Tomoh will focus on ‘Work at Microsoft’ – an opportunity for Emiratis to pursue careers at Microsoft under ‘Microsoft Aspire Experience’ a programme designed for those graduating from an undergraduate, masters, PhD, or a full-time MBA program. While working at Microsoft, these individuals will discover opportunities to accelerate their growth and spark the next wave of disruptive innovations. This pillar will also have an active ‘experienced hires’ function that will provide the country’s existing talent with opportunities to work and grow within Microsoft. 

The third pillar known as Skill-Up Digitally will enrol students, job seekers and entrepreneurs into a powerful digital skilling program, enabled by the Microsoft Cloud Society, a global initiative that is designed enhance technical skills amongst individuals in emerging technologies. Participants will gain the opportunity to get hands on trainings to harness technologies such as AI and IoT, as well as upskill in cloud, networking, Big Data, Data Science and Mobile technologies.