What drives workers’ participation in digital skills training?

Context: - Digital skills mismatches have been high on the EU policy agenda for some time. - Skills mismatches are a concern for policymakers and researchers as they are closely associated with negative labour market outcomes such as wage penalties, absenteeism, high turnover, and lower levels of job satisfaction. - Training is one policy instrument that can be implemented to address skills mismatches. Objectives: - This brief contributes to policy on provision of digital skills. It uses data from Cedefop’s second European skills and jobs survey (ESJS2) and provides new evidence by (i) describing the characteristics of the digitally-underskilled in the EU workforce; and (ii) identifying characteristics of EU workers undertaking digital skills education and training. Key policy messages: - Around 13% of EU workers are affected by digital skills mismatch to a great extent. - While new technologies do not necessarily cause mass unemployment, there is a need for upskilling and reskilling of workers who are likely to face marked changes in their job tasks due to the advent of new digital technologies. - Policy efforts could be targeted to those reporting a digital skills mismatch but not participating in any digital skills training, and workers with a higher chance of reallocation due to new digital technologies. - Job-skills requirements, i.e. the level of skills demanded in individuals’ jobs, are the strongest drivers of participation in digital skills training. - Individual attitudes and perceptions (e.g. fear of automation) towards technology are also important drivers of digital skills training participation. - Design and implementation of education and training initiatives should take both individual attitudes and specific job-skills requirements into account. Research implications: - More research on motivation and incentives for training, quality of training and its impact is needed. - More comprehensive measures of digital skills mismatch may enable better targeting and implementation of education and training.