IndustryWeek recently featured a new NSC and Cognizant U.S. Foundation report – Boosting Digital Literacy in the Workplace – which examined how businesses are addressing digital upskilling for workers and what policymakers can do to help. “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.”
“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.”
IndustryWeek notes, “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.”
