Page 2 - Digital Skills - Quick Start Guide 1.0

WHY DIGITAL SKILLS?

It’s no secret that most industries have drastically changed due to
technological integrations over the past few decades. With this
transformation, the experience that workers need for many
employment opportunities will include an increased focus on digital
skills. Having basic digital literacy is vital for almost any job today and
learning advanced digital skills will provide workers with an opportunity
to achieve upward mobility. However, studies continue to show that
many jobs go unfilled due to a lack of digital skills among applicants. This
missing piece of the puzzle is commonly referred to as the digital skills
gap. This deficit of technically trained workers is disrupting sustainability
and growth for businesses and holding individuals back from achieving
desirable, livable wage employment.

ARTICLES

To complement this guide and further prepare your organization for implementation of digital skills
programs, you should review the articles below. These studies provide you with a richer context and
deeper understanding of the digital skills gap and the increasing need for technology training.

Burning Glass: The Digital Skills Gap in the Workforce
Much of the debate over technology in the workforce has focused on sophisticated skills, such as writing
code. But the more significant impact on the middle-skill job market is in the humbler world of everyday
software: spreadsheets and word processing, programs for medical billing and running computerized drill
presses. To a large extent, a job seeker without the ability to use this software won’t even get in the door.

Burning Glass: The Digital Edge: Middle-Skill Workers and Careers
Burning Glass Technologies, in partnership with Capital One and following up on work done in 2015, has
conducted this study to understand the future of middle-skill jobs. These reports focus on the role of
digital skills in opening doors for job seekers without a college degree, a group that encompasses two
thirds of Americans.

Brookings: Digitalization and the American Workforce

Over the past half century, wave after wave of digital innovation has ensured that “digitalization”—the
diffusion of digital technologies into nearly every business and workplace and pocket—has been remaking
the U.S. economy and the world of work.

Accenture: Inclusive Future of Work: A Call to Action
Today, intelligent technologies—such as Analytics, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics— are
reshaping work and redefining which skills are in demand across industries and geographies. There is a
huge opportunity for workers to learn new skills and for businesses to create more value.