Vodafone and Sony Pictures team up to close digital skills gap

Sony Pictures joins Vodafone’s mission to support 10 million young people to access digital skills, learning and employment opportunities by 2022

Vodafone and Sony Pictures have announced a groundbreaking global collaboration, which sees them uniting to help millions of young people in 20 countries identify their skills and find digital jobs that match them.

They will use December’s hotly anticipated movie release Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to introduce young people to Vodafone’s free Future Jobs Finder, a gamified digital platform to help them understand their skills and future career opportunities. The initiative was developed as part of Vodafone’s global programme, What will you be?, which has committed to support 10 million young people to access digital skills, learning and employment opportunities by 2022.

A global digital campaign to support the Sony Pictures and Vodafone collaboration - leading people to Future Jobs Finder - will draw on the movie’s central theme: that anyone can achieve their full potential with the right skills and support.

Andre Seddoh, Vice President International Marketing Partnerships at Sony Pictures, said: “We are so excited about this visually groundbreaking movie, as for the first time we open up a different Spider-Man universe - known as the Spider-Verse - where more than one can wear the mask. Within this world we introduce Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales, who like many young people preparing to leap into the next stage of their lives, is struggling to find out who he is and what he is meant to be. By teaming up with Vodafone we can engage with audiences using the inspirational power of this game-changing movie while also helping Vodafone to connect young people with digital jobs and free digital skills training.”

Joakim Reiter, Director of External Affairs at Vodafone Group said: “Our ambition is to help 10 million young people to access digital skills, learning and employment opportunities and our partnership with Sony Pictures will help us accelerate our progress towards this goal by bringing our digital platform, Future Jobs Finder, to more young people who are thinking about their future career. Future Jobs Finder has been specifically designed to help young adults make a connection between their skills and digital careers they may never have thought of. Together we can harness the power of technology, and the excitement around the movie, to engage with young people to help them realise their potential and play a role in closing the digital skills gap.”

Seddoh added: “One of the great moments in the movie is when Peter Parker says to Miles “Don’t do it like me, do it like you,” and this is what we want everyone to take away from this movie and use as inspiration to fulfil their own destiny.”

Since launching in March this year, more than 300,000 young people have completed Vodafone’s Future Jobs Finder tool, introducing them to over a million digital job types. The online platform takes people through a series of short tests, developed with psychologists, careers experts and training providers, to identify their skills and interests. By responding to these questions, young people can understand where their potential lies and find live local job opportunities in multiple digital industries which are matched to their skills, as well as access relevant, free digital skills training.

https://futurejobsfinder.vodafone.com/

Photography and video available here

About Spider-Man^TM : Into the Spider-Verse :

Columbia Pictures presents in association with Marvel an Avi Arad/Lord Miller/Pascal Pictures production a Sony Pictures Animation film, Spider-Man^TM : Into the Spider-Verse . Featuring the voices of Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Lily Tomlin, John Mulaney and Kimiko Glenn, with Nicolas Cage and Liev Schreiber. Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, the screenplay is by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman from a story by Phil Lord based on the Marvel Comic. The film is produced by Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Christina Steinberg. Stan Lee, Brian Michael Bendis and Will Allegra serve as executive producers.

About the Future Jobs Finder

Vodafone has worked with specialist psychologists, careers advisers and training providers to develop a smartphone-based service - called the Future Jobs Finder - that offers young people a simple but comprehensive gateway to new skills and opportunities for employment in the digital economy. The first step in the Future Jobs Finder is a series of quick psychometric tests designed to identify each individual’s aptitudes and interests and these are then mapped to the most appropriate job category in the digital economy. In the second step, the individual is directed to specific job opportunities in their chosen location, including opportunities with Vodafone. Users can also access relevant online digital skills training providers, with many of these courses available for free. On completing the tests, users receive a summary of their skills and interests that can be used on their C.V. or in a job application.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., which is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. SPE’s Motion Picture Group includes film labels Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and Sony Pictures Classics.