AWS to offer cloud engineer training in Korea

Ham Kee-ho, country managing director of AWS Korea, speaks during a press conference at the company's headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul

By Baek Byung-yeul

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud business arm of U.S. tech giant Amazon, is offering free cloud computing education for job seekers in Korea at a time when many companies here are struggling to hire skilled cloud computing engineers, the head of its Korean unit said Tuesday.

“AWS announced its initiative to provide cloud skills to 29 million people from 2021 to 2025 and so far we have trained about 13 million people. In Korea, we have been offering education programs since 2017 and trained over 200,000 people,” Ham Kee-ho, the country managing director of AWS Korea, said at a press conference in Seoul.

“To help the unemployed and job seekers, we are now offering a 12-week entry-level cloud education program course for free,” Ham added, introducing the company's AWS re/Start cloud computing education program.

AWS re/Start is a program that operates in more than 180 cities in 60 countries around the world. Participants receive free education and job training to prepare for their careers in the cloud computing business.

“This is not just a program that we can solely do. There should be a delivery partner and recruitment partner,” Ham said adding the company has been cooperating with Megazone Cloud, a local cloud service provider, to offer the education program, and Shinhan DS, an IT service unit of Shinhan Financial Group, to help program participants find jobs.

Participants can join the education program at Megazone Cloud's education center. The local cloud service provider also connects job seekers with companies seeking cloud engineers. Shinhan DS and other companies will provide job interview opportunities and plan to hire some of them as interns.

“As a partner of AWS, we provide training through professional instructors and help them get jobs at other companies,” Lee Joo-wan, CEO of Megazone Cloud, said.

Cho Kyoung-sun, CEO of Shinhan DS, speaks during a press conference at AWS Korea's headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul

Cho Kyoung-sun, CEO of Shinhan DS, also said joining forces with AWS will become a good opportunity for her company and the country's digital industry as she has been keenly aware of the need for skilled engineers in digital technology.

“As a person who knows the need to foster skilled engineers in the digital technology field, I think it is good for Shinhan DS to participate in such a good education program,” Cho said.

“When the trainees complete the 12-week program, some of them will be able to sign up for internship opportunities. After a three-month internship, the company will provide them with the opportunities to switch to full-time jobs,” she added.