Even developers and designers are not immune to this economic downtown - Microsoft wants to help.

Internally at Microsoft there has been talk about how we can help developers and designers in this economy. The beginning of those efforts is now launching with ThriveDev a website dedicated to offering FREE resources on training, certifications, videos, as well as job posting and integrating with your local developer community.

“ Although the economic news is looking a little brighter, we know it’s still tough out there…. to help Microsoft has put together Thrive -  a website all about helping you survive the recession and manage their careers in this tough economy.  Thrive pulls together a ton of great resources to help you learn new tasks faster, get access to discounted training, and certification and connect you with your local community. Thrive has lots of interesting insights from members of our own developer community who are sharing their stories and advice about what they are doing to manage their career in the downturn. “

Some great upcoming features include:

• .NET Rocks “Development in a Downturn” podcast series – 10 part podcast series focusing on developers in the community sharing their stories of how they have handled the recession, what they have learned and advice they have to share to others based on their personal experiences
• Step by step resources to help you ramp quickly on new tasks. We’re being asked to take on more with fewer resources and limited training, these step  by step scenarios help save time and money.
• “How to be a better Developer” series – everything from community MVP’s weighing in with their advice, to how to leverage social networks to benefit your career, to “Driving your Career Forward” , a  32 part screen cast series on how to develop key soft skills that can help you be more successful on the job.
• Job search functionality on thousands of development job openings across the country
• Industry resources and articles on how to land a job; including a 4 part webcast series on “Getting a Development Job in the Current Economy” 
• Community Connection to find local developer events and user groups

Be sure to stop on by and check it out as well as letting us know if there is anything you'd like to see on the site.