Is there evidence that those seeking middle skills jobs actually need digital skills?

Colleagues,

The executive Summary of a March, 2015 report by the prestigious research firm, Burning Glass Technologies, Crunched by the Numbers: THE DIGITAL SKILLS GAP IN THE WORKFORCE begins "In the middle-skill job market, the world is increasingly divided between the jobs that demand digital skills and the ones that don’t—and the ones that don’t are falling behind."

The report continues, "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."

Middle-skill jobs, as you may know, require more than a high school education but less than a bachelor’s degree; they are almost 40% of the jobs in the U.S.,  the jobs that have long enabled a middle-class lifestyle for millions of Americans. "Two-thirds of Americans don’t have a college degree, and these jobs represent important career opportunities for them."

This Digital Skills Gap study of job postings found that middle-skill jobs that require digital skills are outpacing those that do not in a wide range of ways:

  • "Nearly eight in 10 middle-skill jobs require digital skills. Spreadsheet and word processing proficiencies have become a baseline requirement for the majority of middle-skill opportunities (78%).
  • Digitally intensive middle-skill occupations are growing faster than other middle-skill jobs. Digitally intensive jobs have grown 2.5 times more rapidly than middle-skill jobs that do not require spreadsheets, word processing, or other digital skills (between 2003 and 2013, 4.7% growth for digitally intensive jobs compared to 1.9% growth for other positions).
  • Digitally intensive middle-skill jobs pay more than middle-skill jobs that do not require a digital component. Digitally intensive middle-skill occupations offer 18% higher wages on average: $23.76 per hour compared to $20.14 per hour for all other middle-skill jobs."

Using spreadsheets and word processing require computer skills used to organize and communicate information and to solve problems. Although we are seeing a shift away from computers as adult basic skills learners' Internet access device of choice, this study reminds us that for good jobs, computer skills are now assumed, both to get and perform well in these good jobs.

Is this kind of information useful to you? To your students? To program or state adult education administrators? To state policy makers? If so, take a look at this study, and let us know what you find especially interesting or useful.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

Technology and Learning, and Program Management CoPs

djrosen123@gmail.com

 

Comments

Thank you for sharing this. I have often taken the position that digital literacy skills are necessary to be competitive in a technologically advancing job market. I was often (jokingly) told that this was a bias on my part because I used to be a CTE teacher focusing primarily on computer literacy and technology, and getting mores students into tech classes was job security for me. I sometimes felt like chicken little telling the world "the sky is falling!" except my mantra was "you need computer skills!"... I will definitely share this information.

Thank you for sharing this article, David. I appreciate what the report has to say about the need for digital skills, but it looks like the focus is on administrative and clerical positions.  On page six (6), there is mention of health information technology.  When I did a quick Google search of the terms, digital skills and data, I saw several city and state workforce partnerships (San Diego; Connecticut; Iowa) with reports that highlight equal or greater numbers of middle skill jobs in nursing and allied health.  These are presumably different from health informatics/records jobs.  

This led me to wonder how programs are teaching digital skills using contextual learning opportunities, while also promoting transferable 'digital thinking' skills that learners can use in different employment sectors, from administrative to more direct service care positions, such as nursing and allied health?  What are examples of curriculum that supports broader digital thinking skills, based on logic and computer programming principles, and the contextualized learning and practice that helps learners acquire the hard skills which employers are looking for in the marketplace?

Mike Cruse

Career Pathways Moderator

michaelcruse74@gmail.com        

Thanks for summarizing these findings for us, David. I will certainly share this data among programs in my region. It is very easy to focus instruction on academic skills, forgetting to include computer skills among those in our day and age! Perhaps we could share some resources that have proven effective in helping Adult Ed instructors implement promising practices in that regard, side by side with other academic instruction. Leecy

Thanks for summarizing these findings for us, David. I will certainly share this data among programs in my region. It is very easy to focus instruction on traditional academic skills, forgetting to include computer skills among those in our day and age! Perhaps we could share some resources that have proven effective in helping Adult Ed instructors implement promising practices in that regard, side by side with other academic instruction. Leecy