Cedefop research is here to assist policy-making, in line with the European Parliament’s call for action to support young people across Europe to enrich their digital skills and literacy. The Parliament’s proposals include creating public-private partnerships to support access to certified free training courses on digital skills, and access to the internet and digital tools. Equipping European young people with skills for the future, facilitating their labour market access and promoting their mobility are seen as major drivers of social and employment recovery following the pandemic. Cedefop’s Second European skills and jobs survey (ESJS2) shines a light on how the recent digital boost – partly caused by increased remote working during the pandemic – has changed tasks in many jobs, and what this means in terms of upskilling young people and adults. The survey, carried out in 2021, covers the 27 Member States, Norway and Iceland (EUᐩ). For a discussion of the survey findings, check out Cedefop's latest policy brief. On 8 September, join the European Parliament Employment Committee's webinar Youth first! Employment, skills and social policies that work for young Europeans in times of uncertainty, featuring the work of five EU agencies: Cedefop, ELA, Eurofound, ETF, and EU-OSHA.
Cedefop’s ESJS2 data confirm that there is significant potential for investment in digital training in the EUᐩ. On average, about 12% of EUᐩ adult employees have a ‘fundamental’ digital skill gap, as they have not yet used any digital devices at work. About 20% of adult workers in the EUᐩ could benefit from additional training in the most basic digital skill: navigating the web. Further, 30 to 40% of EUᐩ employees can be trained in fundamental word processing and use of spreadsheet tasks, while for 70 to 90% there is scope for training in more advanced digital skills. Cedefop’s survey also cautions about the preparedness of teachers and trainers for the challenges of digitalisation. It found that vocational education and training (VET) teachers have lower participation in digital skills training, compared to other teaching professionals. Despite the need for digital skills acquisition and digital inclusion of young people in all EUᐩ countries, policies face many challenges. These include not only how VET systems are organised and cooperate with the labour market, but also the content of VET curricula, teaching methods and the professional development of teachers and trainers. Polices also need to address issues of equipment and infrastructure for teaching and learning. The range of challenges underlines the significance of adopting integrated policies. Digital skills training must be embedded in nearly every initial VET (IVET) qualification. Listen to Cedefop’ podcast on how two European Union decentralised agencies join forces to promote vocational education and training (VET), skills and human development in the EU and beyond. In this eighth episode of Cedefop's Skillset and match podcast, Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel and the European Training Foundation (ETF) Director ad interim Xavier Matheu discuss the two agencies' collaboration, including transferring VET-related knowledge between European Union Member States and neighbouring countries and cooperating on Europe's response to the refugee crisis generated by the war in Ukraine.
Interested in obtaining first-hand information from Cedefop experts on this subject? Our experts on anticipating and matching skills, digitalisation and the future of work are happy to talk to you and share their insight.
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