Over half of global workforce don’t believe they have sufficient digital skills to perform their work

• 80% of employees expect their job to become more digitally focused in the next two years

• 46% believe digital skills will be one of the top skills to focus on in the future

• Yet, up to 53% of employees believe they are currently lacking digital skills to sufficiently perform their work

• Concerns rise as 58% of workers say not having the right skills affects their team and collaboration in a negative way

More than half of employees lack digital skills despite roles becoming more digitally focused, according to Europe’s fastest-growing digital learning provider, GoodHabitz. It conducted a survey of 24,235 employees across the UK, Europe, Latin America and Australia asking what role personal development played in their lives and what organisations need to do to fulfil their needs at work. It highlighted a major shift towards digital roles, with 80% of employees expecting this to happen in the next two years.

The survey found that 46% of workers believe that digital skills will be one of the top skills to focus on towards the future. As 61% feel the need to reskill themselves to stay successful in the future, this highlights the challenge for organisations to provide L&D opportunities.

Mark Thompson, UK Manager of GoodHabitz, said:

“There is enormous demand to improve digital skills, especially as more than half of the global workforce (54%) is working fully or partially remotely. It’s somewhat surprising then, that up to 53% of employees believe they lack digital skills to sufficiently perform their work.

“Many employees are acutely aware that they want to be prepared for the future and they need their employers’ support. Having a workforce that is fit for the future requires more than giving them access to the skills they believe are important for work. It’s equally important to invest in the skills that they are intrinsically motivated to learn.”

Indeed, skills development does not have a one-size-fits-all approach, and GoodHabitz research showed that employees from different generations want to focus on different sets of skills. For instance, while 33% of respondents aged 35-49 and 36% of those aged 50+ wanted to focus on digital skills in the coming years, 33% of younger workers are more focused on management and leadership skills.

“Without the right tools to succeed, the gap between current and future skills will continue to grow. But what if an employer doesn’t respond to the need for these skills? Here it’s clear too – 58% of the employees say that not having the right skills affects their team and collaboration in a negative way,” concluded Thompson.

The GoodHabitz ‘Bridge the Skills’ report is available to download here.