Microsoft Corp. announced it would be training unemployed people in Washington State to help get new computer skills, as a part of a new national program Microsoft announced at the National Governors Conference in February.

Over the next 90 days the company plans to give away more than 30,000 vouchers that will entitle them to take computer classes for free and take Microsoft certification exams at no or low cost. It is not yet known if the courses will be held in person or online. The trainings will be for Microsoft software, and will include classes intended to train people from basic technology literacy to intermediate-level courses on programs such as Excel and PowerPoint.

It should also be mentioned that Washington State had the 17th highest unemployment rate in the country last month with a jobless rate of 8.4 percent. 

Washington's WorkSource job centers across Washington started giving out the vouchers on Monday.