The Microsoft Office Work Essentials program is part of Microsoft�s effort to connect workers with skills training that can help them excel in their jobs by highlighting and training them on the powerful features that can provide real benefits to workers in specific roles.

Rather than treating technology as a one-size-fits-all solution, the Work Essentials team researches the challenges and tasks that professionals in finance, marketing, human resources and many other fields face every day. The team then designs Office-based templates, tools, and other resources to help workers tackle their jobs and get the most of their software. The site includes hundreds of items, from how-to guides to templates to articles from industry experts.

�The real key for us that we focus very specifically on the use of the Office system in the context of one�s job role or occupation,� says John Smithwick, group product manager for Microsoft�s Work Essentials team. �Work Essentials has approximately 600 templates, tools, articles, simulations and videos designed for the information worker, and each is designed specially to meet the key needs of specific job roles or industries. We�ve worked very closely with industry experts over the past several years to ensure that the solutions we develop are genuinely useful to customers, whether they work in finance, sales, marketing, etc.�