While it’s no secret that workers need to be upskilled in order to perform both the jobs that exist today and those in the future, how to get this to a critical mass is under question.
Research done by the National Skills Coalition (NSC) found that nearly one in three U.S. workers had either very few digital skills or even no skills at all. What makes that figure even more interesting is that between 38% and 43% of those workers are employed in jobs that required moderate or complex computer usage.
Many companies are of course aware of this and have been creating programs to fill this gap. However, there needs to be a public policy effort to help solve this issue says NSC. And the pandemic has further complicated the matter.
"COVID-19 has put a spotlight on the vital role of digital skills in the workplace,” Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, senior fellow at NSC told IndustryWeek "But public investments are so far behind what is needed to support workers and businesses as they work to enhance the occupational digital literacy of their workforce.”
To determine what is needed to address this, NSC joined with the Cognizant U.S. Foundation to ask companies what they are doing to figure out what skills are needed to either reemploy workers or help those working keep their jobs and grow their career. Their report, “Boosting Digital Literacy in the Workplace," found that companies are taking a few different approaches. Some hire workers with specific digital credentials, while others hire workers who have a broad range of digital technologies. It is the conclusion of the report, however, that the best course is to focus on opportunities for employees to build industry-specific, but transferable skills. Larger companies are developing in-house training to achieve this. But medium and smaller companies lack resources.
“Small businesses are facing a host of challenges right now – trying to figure out digital skill-building shouldn't be one of them,” said Bergson-Shilcock. “That’s why public investment in trusted, well-designed industry sector partnerships is so important in developing digitally skilled workers.”
Investment in this type of training was supported by those business leaders involved in the study. They saw a need to invest in industry partnerships as well as expand the use of Pell Grants which can be used in short-term training programs, technical assistant for educators as well as expanding broadband internet.
Other public policy recommendations from the report include:
- Invest in industry sector partnerships that can collaborate with community colleges and other training providers to bring a business voice to the talent development process.
- Modernize federal student financial aid to recognize the reality of how digital skills are acquired.
- Invest in high-quality professional development and technical assistance to aid workforce and education providers
- Expand digital inclusion investments to tackle all three “legs of the stool” – broadband internet access, digital device access, and digital skills
“Policymakers play an important role in ensuring working adults have the opportunity to build the digital literacy necessary to succeed in the workforce,” said Kristen Titus, Executive Director of the Cognizant U.S. Foundation in a statement.
