(L-R) Microsoft's Brad Smith, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire look on as Karen Lee of the state Employment Security Department addresses the news conference at the WorkSource office in downtown Seattle this morning.

Microsoft and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire this morning held a news conference in downtown Seattle to announce the company's donation of 30,000 vouchers for people in the state to learn new computer skills, positioning themselves for better jobs. As a point of clarification, officials were asked whether the vouchers would be good for learning non-Microsoft programs, too.

For the record, that would be a big no.

"Our programs are rather popular," explained Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, with a grin.

Smith made it clear that the company isn't about to see its donation, with a value of at least $3 million on the low end, used to promote the use of competing programs. At the same time, he said Microsoft "would be thrilled" if other companies in the software industry took similar steps to promote training on their own products.

Gregoire said she'd like to see other companies demonstrate the same level of "generosity" and "leadership" as Microsoft in that regard.

The vouchers are being made available as part of Microsoft's Elevate America retraining program, announced in February, which aims to train up to 2 million people over the next three years.

This site has details on getting access to the vouchers in Washington state.

The news conference included comments from Joy Waynewood, a 46-year-old Seattle resident who was laid off from her job as a customer service receptionist in December and plans to use the voucher program to learn Microsoft PowerPoint and Access skills.

Also at the news conference, Microsoft's Smith was asked about the status of layoff plans at the company. He cited Microsoft's January announcement, in which it said it would lay off up to 5,000 employees globally over 18 months, starting with 1,400 positions at that point. Over the same time frame, the company said it would add 2,000 to 3,000 jobs in other positions more in line with its strategic direction. Smith said those statements still apply.

Microsoft reports quarterly earnings April 23, and Wall Street analysts will no doubt be looking to the company for updates on the layoffs and spending plans at that point.