Facebook to Open Digital Training Hubs in Europe

Facebook said on Monday it will open three new centers in Europe to train people in digital skills and committed to training one million people over the next two years, part of the social media giant's effort to show its contribution to the bloc.

"People are worried that the digital revolution is leaving people behind and we want to make sure that we're investing in digital skills to get people the skills they need to fully participate in the digital economy," said Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer.

The U.S. social network giant - which has faced regulatory pressure in Europe over issues ranging from privacy to antitrust - said it would open three "community skills hubs" in Spain, Poland, and Italy as well as investing 10 million euros ($12.2 million) in France through its artificial intelligence research facility.

The community hubs will offer training in digital skills, media literacy and online safety to groups with limited access to technology, including old people, the young and refugees.

Facebook also committed to having trained one million people and business owners by 2020.

"Absolutely we want to make sure that people see that we are investing locally, we're investing in technology, we're investing in humans," Sandberg said.

Facebook's move comes as EU states discuss proposals to raise the tax bill of tech multinationals after pressure from large states that accuse firms like Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook of slashing their tax bills by re-routing their EU profits to low-tax countries such as Luxembourg and Ireland.

Facebook to Train 65,000 French People in Digital Skills

Facebook also said on Monday that it will train 65,000 French people in digital skills in free schemes to help women set up businesses and the long-term unemployed to get back to work.

The US social network will work with 50,000 jobseekers in partnership with the national unemployment agency, helping them with their computer skills, until late 2019, a company statement said.

At the same time it will work with 15,000 French women hoping to start their own companies, in an expansion of the She Means Business campaign already present in several countries.

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