In the latest blog post of their digital skills series, Dave Weller, Digital Skills Lead at the University of Exeter, discusses the UK digital skills gap.
The digital skills gap in the UK is a growing challenge, affecting various industries and the people’s readiness for the future. This article explores what it is, what causes it, and how we can overcome it.
What is the digital skills gap?
The digital skills gap is all about the mismatch between the skills needed for certain jobs and the skills that employees or job candidates actually have. Research shows that about 40% of workers in the UK aren’t fully qualified for their jobs, and by 2030 around 20% of the workforce might be significantly under-skilled. That’s about 6.5 million people!
Examining the UK digital skills gap
52% of employees lack critical digital skills, according to recent research.
Digital skills can be hard to define (see our previous article for a definition and terms), but employers agree that they’re needed – 82% of all job listings in the UK require digital skills.
This leads to a huge gap between the skills businesses need, and skills employees have.
“Today, almost 60% of the UK’s workforce (23.4 million people) is unable to do all 20 digital tasks industry and government have defined as essential for work.” – Future.now.
Why does the digital skills gap exist?
There are several reasons contributing to the digital skills gap in the UK, including:
Increased ‘digitalisation’ – as businesses become increasingly digital, workers without up-to-date skills can struggle to keep pace with new tools.
Covid-19 – as people moved to remote learning, lots of companies focused on surviving rather than training. Lots still haven’t caught up to where they were!
Inequality – young people from low-income backgrounds often don’t have access to the same level of tech, making it harder for them to learn digital skills.
Who does the digital skills gap affect?
The digital skills gap impacts a variety of groups, particularly including:
Staff – about 27% of UK workers say they don’t have the digital skills needed for their jobs, affecting their career growth (and potentially their earnings, too).
Businesses – companies can find it hard to find digitally-skilled employees, which can lead to all sorts of issues, challenges like lower productivity, quality issues, higher turnover, and revenue loss.
Young people – 88% of young people (aged 16-24) believe digital skills are crucial for their careers – and yet still struggle to gain those skills.
How do we overcome it?
Addressing the digital skills gap requires a team effort involving employers, educators, and policymakers. Some methods of overcoming the skills gap include:
Digital skills development – universities could make available digital skills training learning to ensure students are job-ready (like we’re doing with the Digital Skills Initiative).
On-the-job training – employers should invest in continuous training for their employees, both on-the-job and through external courses.
Government initiatives – policymakers should support digital skills development through funding and programs that address educational inequalities and promote lifelong learning.
Access to resources – making sure young people have access to tech is key to digital skills in the future.
What are the benefits of improving digital skills for colleagues and students?
For students, strong digital skills can lead to better job opportunities, higher salaries, and more career growth. Being tech-savvy makes people more appealing to employers and helps them adapt to a changing workplace.
For university staff, enhancing digital skills can reduce friction, making work more enjoyable (and it can lead to further career opportunities).
Overall, boosting digital skills creates a more capable and future-ready community.
– Written by Dave Weller, Digital Skills Lead
Take a look at our 2030 Digital Strategy.
Read the other posts in our Digital Skills blog series.
References:
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/4516/digital-skills-inquiry/news/ (Accessed: 23 July 2024).
Disconnected: exploring the digital skills gap (no date) WorldSkills UK. Available at: https://www.worldskillsuk.org/insights/disconnected-exploring-the-digital-skills-gap/ (Accessed: 23 July 2024).
‘Roadmap update: The 2024 plan for action and progress so far’ (no date) FutureDotNow. Available at: https://futuredotnow.uk/roadmap-update-jan-2024/ (Accessed: 23 July 2024).
Thornhill, J. (2023) IT Skills Gap Report 2023, Forbes Advisor UK. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/business/software/digital-skills-gap/ (Accessed: 23 July 2024).